Ashes to Ashes
by opensecret
Summary: Kill Frieza - that'd been the plan. Non omnis moriar. Not all of me shall die. VERY AU B/V. WARNING: Two OC's
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z, of course.**

**Rated M for to be safe and for language.**

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><p>They've lost. They've lost the battle, maybe even the war, who knows? All Bulma knows is that they have to get out of here before they're all dead, before it's all over.<p>

It doesn't make sense.

Ki blasts soar past her head and Nappa hastily pushes her to the ground, making her slam face-first into the dirt. In his panic, he had not held back quite as much as she would have liked, and she lies for a moment, paralyzed.

Someone grabs the back of her shirt and hoists her up, setting her on her feet and taking off. Nappa had long since vanished, perhaps not even knowing that she had disappeared from his side.

Bulma turns, looking through the mass of terrified warriors, all fleeing from Frieza's powerful forces with fear in their faces. She pushes past them desperately, to the edge of the hill, and looks down at the grassy plain stretched out in front of Frieza's city. She watches as four lone figures face the thousands of soldiers sprinting right for them.

There was a word in the Saiyan language for this. _Extrais._ It meant that everything that could go wrong would go wrong.

It was funny, really. No, not funny – it was sick and wrong and twisted how they could come so far and gain so little.

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><p><em>Ashes to ashes, we all fall down.<em>

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><p><strong>Ashes to Ashes<strong>

Chapter 1

The young teenager twirled a lock of her dark, black hair between her index and forefinger and smirked at the slack jawed looks that she was on the receiving end of. It wasn't often that members of the upper camps visited the lower, the one that was home for civilians and scientists and weaklings. Basically pointless people, for all she was concerned.

The girl allowed a few of some men standing outside a hut to get a good look at her – from her indecently revealing armor, showing off her bare torso and back (Vegeta had often complained that there really was no point to her armor, for it only concealed her breasts and her privates, but she enjoyed the feeling of power that she got when men's eyes lingered, the assurance that they wanted to see more), to her sharp, fierce features, to her dark, calculating eyes. The men's eyes roved and she unraveled her tail from her waist, waving it rhythmically behind her, laughing delightedly as they watched it as if entranced. She strode by them and entered the hut that she had been directed to; the reason that she had been told to make an appearance in the slums in the first place.

Lifting her nose high in the air, she walked right by the guards without sparing them a glance. They shrunk away from her, feeling her bad mood emanating from her slight frame.

Vegeta always gave her the pointless missions, she thought vehemently with an annoyed grimace in memory of the last one. Granted, this wasn't exactly pointless, but she could care less. She tended to find anything that didn't solely have to do with herself completely pointless.

The room she entered had a measly population of five; three men and two women, all seated at desks. They straightened their chairs the moment she entered and their eyes flashed with surprise. They knew that they were important so couldn't be surprised that someone of her status had come to see them, so she deduced that they were surprised at her obvious youth.

The girl walked casually up to the blackboard, scrawled down an elaborate equation that made absolutely no sense to her (Vegeta had given it to her, and she truly didn't know if he had come up with it himself) and turned to face the five people. "Solve it," she commanded, gracefully sliding herself into a chair and tilting it precariously backwards so that she could prop her feet up on the nearest desk. The scientist sitting at it shifted his wide eyes to her boots.

This was the scientists' one and only chance to promote themselves up to Ring One, and she could see the eagerness in their eyes, the thirst for bigger and better things as they hungrily drank up the equation and screwed up their faces in concentration.

"You first," she commanded to a handsome man, using her tail to motion him forward. He stood, sucked in a deep breath, and started forward, picking up a piece of chalk. The man set to work and the girl briefly checked out his ass, raising her eyebrows. She couldn't be blamed, after all, there wasn't exactly a surplus of handsome, eligible men back in Ring One. Kakarrot was, well, Kakarrot, and he chose to mate with that annoying harpy, Nappa was basically hideous to look at, Vegeta was…ugh, gross, Gohan had the makings of a handsome face but he was young (three years younger than herself, and that made all the difference to her), Apollo - although handsome - was weak and obnoxious, the rest of the men in Ring One she could care less for, leaving Radditz, who was generously handsome in his own way.

Lost in her thoughts, the girl's eyes snapped to attention when the handsome man cleared his throat nervously. He seemed stumped by the equation and faltered, unable to do more. "Get out, useless fool," she snapped, motioning the next forward to make an attempt.

The next man couldn't get any farther than the first, and then the third finally finished, circling her answer confidently. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the last woman's eyes flash, so she pointed her tail at her. "You, show her where she went wrong." The blue-haired woman strut forward, her head held high, a confident gleam in her eye. Vegeta had not given her any answer to the problem so when the blue-haired woman finished, she looked pointedly at the last man and asked, "Did she go wrong?" He shook his head, eyes wide. "Then you get out."

She turned her attention to the winner of her little game, who was twirling the chalk in her hand and smirking confidently. "Welcome aboard the shit crazy ride that we like to call Kill Frieza. My name's Azuki, and I'll be your guide." Azuki smirked.

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><p>Bulma had thought that Ring One would be more impressive than what she was seeing. It was certainly nicer than Ring Two, of course, but that didn't take much – Ring Two was the slums, a slimy civilization of people that really didn't matter. Ring One had, at least, gotten rid of the slimy quality, but the houses weren't much grander. She could see the colosseum looming in the distance where spars could be held for show, but she could see that from Ring Two, as well.<p>

All throughout the new civilization were men and a few women hanging about, sitting in front of their huts and watching her and Azuki with curious, watchful eyes. They were all either drinking or smoking or eating, all in armor and looking deadly, frightful. Bulma kept her head high, walking with deliberate pride in her steps.

Bulma's people had been the first to come to this planet. Their own planet – what was the name of it? - Earth, Bulma thinks, had been dying, and the other humans had had to escape. They had settled here, long ago. Gradually other races had settled here, too, bringing their own customs and foods and lives. And then, last of all, the Saiyans had arrived for much the same reason as Bulma's people. They had been the strongest and had immediately taken over, claiming the land as their own and proclaiming themselves the leaders. No one had been strong enough to object.

However, there hadn't been a lot of Saiyans, and the race was dwindling. Only a few remained. But they still led over them; the girl that Bulma was following was actually the last female of the race.

She wondered what that felt like. To be the last of something.

And then, many years after the Saiyans, Frieza had come. He had landed on the far side and made his palace, there, and no one had been able to drive him away ever since. His men would occasionally attack and kill some of them off, and he took all of their resources, leaving them to build huts out of wood and mud. They still had some things remaining from the past civilization, like the stadium, but a great deal had been destroyed. It was only a matter of time before Frieza found Ring One and Two, nestled deep in the forest, hidden from sight. He had never attacked them before because he had never found them, the forest being extremely dense, but everyone knew that little safety wouldn't last forever.

They had to eliminate him before he eliminated them.

No one had even seen Frieza, before. They didn't know what he looked like, but they knew that he was much more powerful than the Saiyans, and also much more evil. Vegeta didn't kill them when he grew bored. He didn't send out his army to massacre the smaller communities that lived on the planet. He was better than Frieza. Right?

Bulma chanced a glance at the Saiyan girl she was following, Azuki. The girl waved dismissively at some men that approached her, grinning as they shrank back, leaving her be. Azuki was generally known for making people disappear. It was known that Vegeta wasn't exactly a benevolent ruler and killed those who opposed or bothered him, but if one simply looked at Azuki the wrong way, chances were they would never be found again. Some people - the braver of the bunch - moaned that it wasn't fair she got away with nothing, just because she was Vegeta's sister and therefore royalty.

Some of the ones who complained were those who vanished.

Bulma watched as a dark-haired female approached and Azuki's demeanor instantly changed, her back stiffening and her eyes lifting to the sky in an eye-roll. "Have you seen Gohan?" the new woman asked, her voice slightly shrill, her hands balled into fists. "I swear, if you and Kakarrot have been taking him out to fight in the arena again –"

"He's not with me, _as you can tell_, Chi-Chi," said Azuki, waving her arms around her to show that this 'Gohan' was not in the near vicinity. "God, the kid's fourteen, you don't have to know where he is at all times."

"Every time he disappears he's doing something dangerous with either _you," _Chi Chi points an accusatory finger at Azuki, "or Radditz, or both. Or his good for nothing father."

"Kakarrot doesn't seem to mind." Azuki grinned, and Chi Chi immediately stiffened, her eyes darkening at the implications.

"Yes, because all he knows about is fighting, fighting, fighting, just like _you_ and you other damn Saiyans –"

"Maybe if that's all you knew about, you'd be stronger –"

"And I'll have you know that Gohan is missing out on his studies –"

"Who needs to be intelligent when you're a good warrior?"

"And I am so damn sick of finding blood on his clothes – "

"Shit, you'd think I'd killed him, the way you're raving – "

"Just tell me where he is!" Chi Chi finally screamed, stomping her foot and shutting her eyes in exasperation. Azuki stared blankly at her for a moment, her jaw opening overdramatically.

"You've _got _to be kidding me."

And the Saiyan promptly turned and began to walk away. Chi-Chi glared after her but did not pursue, and Bulma hurried to catch up after sending the woman one unsure glance. Another man fell into step beside Azuki. He had dark, flyaway black hair, was wearing an orange gi, and had a goofy smile plastered on his face. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Azuki said, "Your mate is insane."

The man laughed somewhat nervously, scratching the back of his head. "What is it this time?"

"You aren't fooling anyone, Kakarrot. I know you waited until she was gone before showing up. Where's Gohan?"

Kakarrot shrugged, eyes briefly lifting to the sky before they came back down and rested on the female Saiyan. "I really don't know. He's been running off a lot lately." Kakarrot began to scan the crowd around them, as if to catch sight of his son, and his gaze fell on Bulma. His dark eyes widened briefly before he smiled a genuine smile and nodded his head. Bulma returned the gesture. "Hi! My name's Kakarrot. What's yours?"

"Bulma." The second her name came out of her mouth a hand descended on her shoulder, making Bulma startle terribly. She whirled, looking for the culprit, only to find that no one was behind her. Thoroughly confused, Bulma turned back to the chuckling Azuki and Kakarrot, only to find that a man was now standing in front of her, smiling lazily.

He was wearing a thin, sleeveless black shirt and some black pants that tucked into thick boots. His elbow down was wrapped in black tape, coming to an end at his gloves. The man leaned casually against Azuki, running a hand through his dark blond, almost golden hair that was in a tiny, loose ponytail at the nape of his neck, his clear blue eyes twinkling. Azuki promptly shoved him off of her, muttering something under her breath.

"Whoa, whoa," the man said with an easy grin, eyes resting on Bulma. "And to what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you down here?" he asked, as if _he_ were the one who were living in the slums and she was coming to visit him. He bowed extravagantly to her, said, "Jude Asisca, at your service," took her hand, and kissed it. Bulma blushed.

"_Snik_, Asisca," Azuki snapped, rolling her eyes. The man, Jude, casually tilted his head and grinned.

"Just saw you three walking along and thought I'd accompany you to the meeting. This is the scientist, right?" Jude cocked his head in Bulma's direction, walking backwards, directly in front of Azuki.

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you'd _move."_ Azuki reached forward to grab his shirt and shove him aside, but he danced out of the way smoothly, lifting both arms in surrender.

"Alright, alright. No need to get feisty." He turned and winked at Azuki, who immediately stiffened. In a flash, Azuki had appeared behind him and kicked the back of his knee, promptly making him buckle to the ground.

Azuki laughed, twirling by him as he grunted and began to get to his feet. "Watch yourself, _Darling_." There was the faintest of smiles as Jude slowly got to his feet and dusted off his pants.

"Don't forget who the assassin is, here," Jude growled, somewhat sternly, but there was a twinkle in his eye that showed his teasing.

"Don't forget who can kick your ass." Azuki stuck out her tongue at him, laughing delightedly at the put out look on his face.

Kakarrot, who had been standing aside, finally interfered, groaning, "We're going to be late. Can we go now?"

"He's right," Jude grinned at Azuki. "You need to stop wasting our time, little girl."

Azuki's lip curled and she let out a low growl, and Jude, sensing he was in trouble, turned and sprinted away, giggling like a little boy. Bulma watched as he easily disappeared into a crowd of people, Azuki hot on his heels, and knew why he was an assassin when Azuki came back empty handed, tail thrashing and muttering curses under her breath. Kakarrot laughed at her, waving a hand in the general direction that Jude had disappeared in. "He's good."

"He better watch himself before he winds up dead," Azuki spat, eyes flashing. She returned her attention to Kakarrot and jerked her head towards the center of the Ring. "Let's go."

The place where this supposed 'meeting' was to be taking place was in the center of Ring One; a grand hut more extravagant than any other she had ever seen. It wasn't necessarily huge; on the inside, it was just one, big room, but the carpet was scarlet and the walls were painted in various reds and golds, creating a very royal appearance.

A large group of creatures were gathered inside, each chatting nonchalantly. Bulma caught sight of Jude for a moment before he saw them, eyes shifting to Azuki, and winked at her, disappearing back into the crowd like smoke.

The people parted for Azuki and Kakarrot, and Bulma drifted along in their wake, but she was on the receiving end of many stares herself. The people around her didn't exactly mask their curiosity, either; Bulma's clothing spoke clearly of being from Ring Two, giving her away. They began to mutter to each other as they watched her, their eyes lighting in excitement.

They reached a raised platform in the center with two huge men standing at the bottom of it, one bald and the other with long, spiked hair that reached his knees. "About time you showed up. Prince Vegeta would have been pissed if you'd been late," The bald one muttered sternly, hard eyes landing on Azuki. The teenager just waved him off.

"Yeah yeah, His Royal Highness could've waited a few minutes. I'm sure he'll keep _us_ waiting."

Azuki's eyes lingered on the one with the longer hair and she grinned slyly. "Radditz," she said, and the longer haired Saiyan, Radditz winked back at her, his tail waving eagerly behind him. Bulma watched carefully, watched how Azuki would react, and was surprised when the female Saiyan did not reprimand him.

"Either of you seen Gohan?" Kakarrot asked, his eyes surveying the assorted crowd of people. "It's not like him to be late."

"Lost track of your own cub, brother?" Radditz guffawed, slapping his knee as if he found this truly hilarious. "Hasn't this been happening a lot lately?"

"I'm here, dad!" A younger boy burst through the crowd, placing both hands on his knees and leaning over, panting heavily. "I'm sorry! I got caught up and didn't know what time it was!"

"Where have you been?" Kakarrot had an edge to his voice that didn't really fit what little Bulma knew about him.

However, before Gohan could make a hasty reply, Azuki snapped, "Shut up, we're about to begin."

Indeed, a hush had fallen over the crowd, and Azuki had ascended the raised platform fully and stood at the top. She looked out over the crowd and seemed to spot someone, nodding slowly. Bulma followed her gaze and saw him, saw the Prince for the first time.

The crowd was parting for him hastily as he strode confidently towards the platform, head held high. He was wearing armor quite different from Azuki's, his blue and gold and white, and his hair was flame-shaped, standing up from his head and defying gravity itself. His eyes rested briefly on her before he passed, not holding any kind of interest, and Bulma huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

There was a thick silence over them all, now, and they seemed to be waiting for Vegeta to break it. He did, and the deepness of his voice surprised Bulma. "Frieza's men attacked Neuri yesterday. They killed hundreds." This was news to Bulma, and her eyes widened briefly. The crowd seemed to be surprised as well, as they muttered excitedly to each other, before Vegeta cut them off. "His forces are coming closer and closer here, and we've received information from our spies that it is not Frieza who is ordering these attacks. It is a man named Zarbon. You know that Azuki and I traveled in an attempt to kill Zarbon months ago, but he vanished and we were unable to locate him. I have devised a plan in which I will be able to find him, and perhaps we can get valuable information from him before killing him." Another excited murmur broke out over the crowd, but Vegeta hushed them with a leveled glare. "We will hopefully be able to achieve this within the next month. Once Zarbon is dead, it will be that much easier to get to Frieza. Dismissed."

The men and women that had gathered broke out into light chatter as they lazily made their way towards the door, exiting. Bulma looked around for Azuki, noticing that the teenager had already disappeared, as had Radditz and Nappa. She locked eyes with Vegeta accidentally but refused to break eye contact when he seemed determined to hold it with her. "You're the scientist?" he asked, his voice gruff and his eyes showing that he really couldn't care less who she was.

"Yes," Bulma answered confidently, holding her head a bit higher. There was no reason to be intimidated by this man. She was beautiful, intelligent; who cared that he was essentially the leader of all of them? Not her, not one bit. But she couldn't help but feel a little dirty as his dark gaze scrutinized her, from her dirty rags that were her clothes to her soot stains on her skin.

"Then you will be the one creating this device." Vegeta began to walk away, and Bulma deduced that she was supposed to follow, so she did, keeping a fair distance. "I need something that can detect ki, so we know when Zarbon is far enough away from Frieza's palace that we can attack."

Bulma nodded, before realizing that he could not see her, so hastily said, "I can do it. I'll need a lab."

"I'll provide one. And whatever tools you will need."

Bulma could get used to this living in Ring One. A lab, assistants, tools…her eyes glistened at the prospect of having basically everything she needed at her disposal. What more could she possibly want?

Prince Vegeta turned back to look at her, smirking ever so slightly. "I should hope that you don't fuck this up."

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><p><strong>AN: Oh, how good it feels to be back, writing B/V. Do you guys like it? I can't promise as frequent of updates as This is War had, but I promise to do my best! Tell me if you think I should continue!**

**As you can probably tell, this is very AU. The only differences in the Saiyans' powers, however, is that they can't fly. This is necessary for future purposes.  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! **

**If you aren't sm, this doesn't pertain to you, so you can go ahead and skip it. Sm: I wish you had an account or had logged in so everyone couldn't read this, but I really wanted to say this, whether you read it or not. I specifically asked those who read This is War if they would want to see Azuki in future fics, and the answer was yes. Granted, they obviously were readers who were tolerant of OC's since they had read that far, but if my OC was wildly unpopular, I wouldn't have put her in this story. And you think she's a Mary Sue? Last I checked, greed, selfishness, arrogance, conceit, dishonesty, and being violent, sadistic, deranged, and cruel were some pretty big flaws. I could list a few more if you'd like. You can not like her; I'm perfectly ok with that. But I'm fairly confident my OC isn't a Mary Sue. You don't have to read this story. I really don't mind.  
><strong>

**Anyways, sorry guys! On with the story.  
><strong>

Chapter 2

Vegeta had never particularly liked relying on someone else to get what he needed. He had gradually gotten used to it, what with relying on Azuki and occasionally Kakarrot, and sometimes even those idiots Nappa and Radditz, to get him out of tight situations. But that didn't have to mean that he _liked_ it. Oh no.

"Did you see her _ass?" _Nappa was saying somewhere to his left. All of the Saiyans were crowded into his quarters, discussing the day's events, as they did after important meetings. "I mean, come _on_. Azuki, you sure know how to pick 'em."

"I think she was nice," Kakarrot said conversationally, his brain obviously somewhere else, and Vegeta rolled his eyes.

"Yes, real nice." Radditz elbowed Nappa sharply, wiggling his eyebrows, and received a cuff to the head from Azuki. He yelped in shock and sent her a hurt look, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and inadvertently resembling his brother.

"Gohan's run off again," Kakarrot mentioned absentmindedly, returning his gaze to his brother and Azuki, his eyes distant. "Chi-Chi is going to talk to him."

"You shouldn't worry about it." Azuki shook her head, plopping herself down on the couch next to the worried father and propping her feet up on his lap. "I mean, he's thirteen. Boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do, am I right?" she nudged Radditz and winked at him. The older Saiyan immediately caught on.

"It's about damned time that that Saiyan blood took over a bit."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kakarrot asked innocently, a look of confusion plastered across his face.

"Sex," Nappa answered shortly, and the three of them guffawed at the quick transition from confused to horrified.

"Enough!" Vegeta growled, already in a bad mood. Sometimes he didn't know what he did to get stuck with such immature idiots. "Grow up," he barked, glaring at them each in turn. "There are more serious things to discuss."

"It's done, Vegeta. The scientist is working on the tool as we speak." Azuki waved her hand dismissively. "Give it a few days, and we'll be able to attack Zarbon."

"You're showing your idiocy," he growled, tense and frustrated. How could they not see? "It's what we do _after _we've defeated Zarbon. Immediately attack? How are we supposed to know if we can beat Frieza when we've never even faced him?"

"Maybe we should just figure it out when we get there," Kakarrot offered with a shrug, and Vegeta growled. He liked to have a plan. He liked to _know_ what was going to happen and when it would. He liked to be in control.

Azuki hopped to her feet, one of her smirks on her face. She flipped herself up to the top of the couch and balanced herself precariously on the edge, leaning over it so that her head was between Radditz and Nappa. "We wait," she said, slinking across the couch and deftly hopping to the top of a dresser. "And then, when he least expects it...we strike." At the word 'strike' Azuki leapt from the couch, her feet landing on Kakarrot's shoulders and her hands fisting in his hair, sending both of them to the floor in a heap.

Vegeta had to resist the urge to groan.

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><p>They've underestimated her.<p>

It's not that they thought she was stupid, but they don't seem to hide things in front of her. It's like they've assumed that since she's brilliantly intelligent, then her common sense must be missing. But Bulma knew she was blessed with both, because she noticed things that clearly others had not noticed.

The looks. The looks between Azuki and Radditz. The brief, lingering touches; the snarky, suggestive comments. Something was happening there that wasn't supposed to happen. A secret that Bulma didn't plan on breaking; what good would come of her if it did? Because royalty was not supposed to consort with lowly soldiers. True, Radditz was a Saiyan, but he was third class, and from what she had gathered, not the strongest.

But then there was Jude. Bulma had met a few assassins and other soldiers, and had been around them before when Azuki approached. They _feared_ her, respectively bowed out, didn't say a word and listened to whatever command she barked at them. But Jude didn't. Maybe he was just a flirt? But he would tease her with sparkling, ice blue eyes and a white smile and seemed unafraid when she threatened to rip his head off. Azuki would growl and proclaim her hatred of him, but _did _she?

Gohan disappeared around the same time every day. When he returned he was freshly showered, and Bulma wondered why. His mother scolded him and begged him to tell her, and Gohan simply replied that he'd been off training and had bathed before returning. Kakarrot was oblivious and trusting enough to buy it (Bulma really, really liked Kakarrot, but she couldn't deny that he wasn't the brightest) but Chi-Chi's eyes would shine with distrust before Gohan would sense this and make his escape.

And Vegeta, _Vegeta_. He was an ill-tempered man who seemed concerned with only domination. Every day he would come into her lab and demand to know when she would be finished, or at least send someone else to do his dirty work, as if he couldn't wait to just kill some people and be done with it. And she'd always respond with the same answer, it took _time_, she couldn't just magically produce something like this. It was a trial and error process.

"Have you finished yet?"

Bulma whirled at the familiar voice, watching as Vegeta stalked into her lab acting as if he owned the place. Well, technically he _did_, but it was her lab! She had grown rather attached to both it and her loyal workers who did whatever she asked of them. And when she was in her environment, Bulma felt a lot more comfortable. So she turned away from the Prince with a roll of her eyes. "No, just like yesterday, and the day before that and the day before that."

"Well when will the damned thing be finished?" Vegeta demanded, picking up a tool off the bench, inspecting it, and then promptly slapping it back down on the table. His eyes flashed as they met her's and saw that she wasn't bothering to look afraid.

"Soon, at least. I can get it to pick up ki's nearby, but not on a grand scale. That'll take a bit more time, _Your Highness_." If he picked up on her sarcasm he didn't show it, because he simply nodded and stalked right back out. Bulma huffed, ignoring the shocked looks of her assistants, and returned to her work.

It couldn't have been much longer when Azuki strut in, Radditz trailing obediently behind. She hopped up on one of her benches and sat down, leaning backwards on one arm with a smug look. "Do none of you have anything better to do?" Bulma snapped, looking up from her work to glare at Azuki. The teenage Saiyan didn't seem affected by her bluntness, only smirking ever so slightly.

"I need you to do me a favor," she said, her voice deceivingly soft, and Bulma stiffened in apprehension. She hadn't been around the girl that much, but Azuki didn't normally speak that way. She chanced a glance at Radditz, but he seemed to be pretending that he couldn't hear the conversation. So was he loyal to Azuki? Or Vegeta? For some reason, the possibility of him being of different allegiances made her inexplicably nervous.

"What would that favor be?" Bulma asked casually, not liking the way Azuki's eyes sparkled, as if already knowing it was impossible for Bulma to say no. She returned her attention to her project.

"I need you to stall for a few days."

Bulma's eyes narrowed, but she didn't look up to make eye contact with Azuki. "And why would I do that?"

"Do you have a choice?" Azuki's voice had darkened considerably, and Bulma knew she needed to choose her coming words carefully or else she might be dead before long. Technically their leaders weren't supposed to kill civilians, but Bulma had heard the stories.

"I suppose not," Bulma said cautiously. "It'll take a few more days for me to finish, anyway."

Azuki nodded, and jerked her head at Radditz. "Thank you," she said sarcastically, "for being so cooperative." The teenager slinked forward behind Bulma. "There are a lot of ways to kill someone, you know," she said, her voice eerily soft, her lips frighteningly close to Bulma's ear. Bulma's blood ran cold. And with that, Azuki left.

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><p>"Jude should be back within the next two days," Azuki said, more to herself than to Radditz. He still felt it necessary to reply, however.<p>

"He has been gone for a while. What'd you tell Vegeta?"

"I told him I ordered Jude to go kill some businessman that was possibly allying with Frieza. The usual."

Radditz seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded. He looked down at his Princess and cocked his head to the side, eyebrow rising. "And where _did_ you send him?" Azuki had not yet told him where the assassin was, and it pained him to know she didn't truly trust him with that kind of information. She had obviously trusted Jude enough to know, so why not him?

"It was Jude's idea," Azuki replied cautiously, as if not sure whether or not he should know. Radditz held his breath, waiting for her to go on. "He's spying on Zarbon. Counting up his forces."

"Why couldn't Vegeta know this?" Radditz asked, trying to process the information and wondering why it was such a big deal. He actually felt deflated; had expected something much more interesting.

Azuki threw a nervous glance over her shoulder, and Radditz suddenly felt obligated to do the same. Why was this so secretive? It seemed, to him, like something that Vegeta would've been perfectly ok with and approved of.

"Because," Azuki said slowly, as if annoyed she had to explain this to him. "Vegeta would never approve of a mission that could compromise the attack. If Jude is caught, the whole mission could be shot to hell. Jude can't even kill anyone, because that would give the fact away that we're spying. He'd never risk it."

"So you are?"

"We need numbers. What if we get there and we're all killed because there's too many? Besides, as unfortunate as it is, Jude is a master in stealth. He won't be caught."

* * *

><p>Bulma could hardly keep her hands from shaking after Azuki left, so she called it a night and headed out early, making her way towards her new home that had been provided for her by Vegeta. She glanced out in the distance at the old colosseum and sighed; what was she to do with this new information?<p>

Too lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realize it when she bumped into something very solid and thick. Muttering a hasty apology, Bulma glanced down at Gohan, who was once again returning at his normal hour. The boy apologized profusely, his face red in embarrassment as he stumbled backwards, then darted away. Bulma blinked after him as he rushed away; what did he do every day? He needed to be more secretive about it, but she supposed he had been fairly good about covering his tracks thus far, or else Chi-Chi would've discovered where he'd been going.

Ring Two hadn't been so interlaced with secrets. Everything had been straightforward and blunt, and she almost missed that about it. There was really nothing to hide. But here, here there were secret schemes and unknown motives everywhere. Why'd Azuki want her to delay the completion of her project? Where did Gohan go every day? Who was Radditz truly loyal to? Was Kakarrot really as oblivious as he let on? And was Vegeta really just a bloodthirsty leader that wanted nothing more than power?

Bulma collapsed into her bed but was unable to sleep that night, far too many thoughts whirling in her head.

* * *

><p>"I know you're there, Jude," Azuki snapped, peering around the corner of the alleyway and spotting the young man that almost blended into the shadows before him. He grinned, pushing himself off of the wall and lowering his hood. The only light the two had to go on was the light shining from the bright moon overhead, and the way Jude seemed to materialize from the darkness would've had a normal man nervous.<p>

"I'm going to be able to sneak up on you one day, Azuki," he said, making a pouty face at her when she just brushed him off.

"Well?"

Jude grinned sarcastically, spreading his arms out wide and asking, "What? No welcome home hug? I could've _died_, you know."

Azuki slapped his arms away from her and scowled furiously. "I'm serious, Asisca. How many?"

"Better than we thought," said Jude, comfortably reclining against the building they were hidden behind. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out into the distance, as if remembering what he had seen. "Zarbon's only got about fifty men with him."

"Only fifty? How has he been slaughtering entire cities with only fifty?"

"My guess is Zarbon is stronger than our initial estimate. We'll have to be careful around him, maybe even team up."

"Vegeta's going to want to handle everything himself," Azuki snapped, more to herself, her eyes darkening. "And don't act like _you_ can help to kill him."

"I may not have supernatural powers, but my people were made to be sneaky," he stepped forward, getting closer to her than she wanted, and fluidly side-stepped so that he was behind her, moving like a shadow. She made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. "One knife in the back…it's all it takes," he whispered into her ear, his voice low and husky.

"Dishonorable bastard," Azuki snapped, pushing him away from her so forcefully that he fell flat on the ground. Jude shot her a glare, picking himself up and dusting off his black assassin's pants.

"It's gotten me places, hasn't it?" he replied darkly, and his eyes briefly lifted up to the building tops above them. Azuki seemed to know what he was thinking and shook her head briskly. "Race you?" Jude asked, a childish grin lighting his face.

"I don't partake in such immature activities," she huffed as she folded her arms over her chest, giving Jude a superior look and sniffing at him in derision. She lifted her nose in the air and shut her eyes, then peeked up at him when he didn't respond.

He was just smiling at her, waggling his eyebrows, jerking his head up at the roof.

"Ugh, _fine_," Azuki snapped, and then dashed around the corner, disappearing from sight not a moment later. Laughing delightedly, Jude hauled himself gracefully up to the rooftops, leaping from building to building, trying to catch up to the teenage Saiyan.

* * *

><p>"I could literally wrap my hands around his throat and throttle him," Bulma complained loudly as she strut through her lab the next morning, one of her assistants obediently trotting at her heels, mumbling words that didn't sound as if he agreed. "I mean – he's such an ass! Coming in here and demanding things of me! They all are!"<p>

"I d-don't think you should be talking about them like that, Miss," said her assistant nervously, wringing his hands as he trotted to catch up to her. She gave him a sidelong glance, then shrugged.

"I don't care. They can't do anything to me."

"But they're our leaders. You should show more respect."

Bulma rolled her eyes, waving him off casually. "Yeah yeah," she mumbled, leaving him behind as she trotted deeper into her lab, through all of the desks set up and passed her other assistants that were each tinkering with something different, all following her instructions. Vegeta had requested – no, demanded – that she create some smoke bombs as well, in case they needed a speedy getaway. She checked up on some, made adjustments to others, did what was expected of her.

Even through all her doubts about Ring One's trust and honesty, she genuinely liked it more than Ring Two. It was…cleaner. And nicer, and the food was better, and the living quarters. She didn't miss her life in Ring Two (except for her family), but sometimes she wondered if she was doing the right thing, creating weapons of destruction that were going to be used to murder people.

But then she'd hear the horror stories of Frieza's men destroying entire cities, entire civilizations, and she'd know that this was right.

* * *

><p>"You don't trust either of them?" Nappa asked, hacking off the leg of the beast that they had just felled and tenderizing it with his ki, before popping a piece of it into his mouth. He looked inquisitively at his Prince, who stood just before him on a higher bit of land, staring out into the woods with dark eyes.<p>

Vegeta didn't trust anyone. But he trusted his sister and Radditz even less. He trusted Nappa more. He trusted Jude the least.

He didn't like the idea of being stabbed in the back.

"You know her. Unstable. Power hungry," he grumbled, his sharp eyes surveying the woods before him, searching for easy prey. Vegeta liked to hunt. He liked to tap into the more primal part of himself, unleash it, take down an animal and kill it as easily as squashing a bug. It came so _naturally_.

"But Radditz?"

Radditz bothered him. Vegeta couldn't put a finger on why – he just did. And although they were all of the same race, there was still a definite split. "His loyalties are questionable."

Nappa seemed to ponder over this a moment, sucking delicately at his meat and picking some of it from his teeth. Vegeta trusted Nappa the most because Nappa had been by his side the longest. Nappa had been loyal to Vegeta's father. Radditz had not been old enough.

Well, maybe that wasn't true. As much as he hated to admit it, he might trust Kakarrot the most. Simply because the fool didn't know how to keep a secret, so there was no reason to question him.

No wonder his own son wouldn't trust his father with whatever secret he held.

"Do you trust her?" Vegeta asked his loyal bodyguard, giving up on searching for prey and sinking gracefully onto the rock he was perched atop of. He glanced at Nappa, who came to sit beside him and ponder his question.

"I see nothing that she would gain in trying to overthrow you," he said carefully. "But, Azuki has and always will be hungry for power, as you said. She is firmly rooted in Saiyan custom, so it will hopefully never come to that."

"Yes," said Vegeta, his mind elsewhere. "Hopefully."

* * *

><p>In a different part of the forest, Radditz watched Azuki climb up into a thick, tall tree.<p>

She had once told him that she would never mate, never have children.

She lacked that maternal instinct, that need to keep her name living on, the desire to take care of something. Azuki was a selfish person, and she knew this. She was being practical; she didn't want to look after something when she could have so much more fun looking after herself.

Radditz didn't want children, either.

He had seen how much his brother struggled with raising one son. He didn't want any part of it. So he figured him and Azuki went well, in that respect.

That was probably the only one, though.

The fact that their relationship – if he could even call it that, he should probably just call it sex – was completely forbidden was evidence enough that they probably were not right in what they were doing. He liked to tell himself that since she was risking so much, she had to care about him in some way.

That was the problem with his family, Radditz supposed. Both he and Kakarrot seemed to have a problem with becoming interested in women that liked to boss them around. Although he had teased his brother for it a good amount, he was starting to realize that he was, essentially, in the exact same situation. Azuki didn't like to be told what to do, so he didn't tell her what to do. She liked to be obeyed, so he obeyed her.

When did he turn into such a lap dog?

But sometimes he'd say something and they'd sit together and just laugh and laugh and laugh and she'd smile and he'd grin and sometimes he wanted nothing more than to fuck her and sometimes he wanted nothing more than for her to be his mate.

It was confusing, fucked up, and he didn't like it. Didn't like the way it made him. Radditz wasn't a romantic, not at all, but sometimes – no.

He once went to Nappa and asked what it was like to have a mate and Nappa said it was terrible. He hadn't asked again.

Radditz caught her hiding the body of an old man, once. He had been a civilian, a member of Ring Two. It was strictly forbidden for them to kill civilians, but he knew Azuki did, sometimes. But no one had ever caught her. Even Vegeta was known for his temper getting away from him and killing someone out of sheer fury.

But the old man's body had been mutilated, destroyed.

Azuki had just smirked and said, "Another secret for you to keep, hm?"

"You're sick," said Azuki, present time, looking down at him from up in the tree. She was perched like the monkey she was and grinning in that sadistic yet alluring way of her's.

He glanced skywards at her, grinned, and shrugged. "And you're not?"

Azuki tossed her head back and laughed harshly, startling some of the birds out of their perches and making them fly away, off into the sky. "Yeah, but that's expected. You – you're just _sick_. But you're not _supposed_ to be."

Radditz grinned, leaping up and swinging himself into the tree that she was perched in. She responded by gracefully skipping to the next tree, hooking her legs around a branch and hanging upside-down, smirking at him. Her black hair cascaded out underneath her, and he could picture her underneath him, that hair plastered to her head in sweat, panting and gasping and –

"Radditz?"

Radditz blinked at her, jerked from his fantasy. "Yeah?"

Azuki had caught a little green bird by the wing between her thumb and forefinger. She was studying it intently, and, as he watched, she enclosed her fist over it, ever so slowly, and crushed it as if it were nothing, ignoring its shrieks. Radditz waited patiently; he was used to these kinds of displays. She had undergone one of her radical mood changes, he could tell. Sometimes they frightened him, but this time just had him intrigued. "What do you think happens when you die?"

And this is what he really liked about her – because Azuki would never say this in front of Nappa or Vegeta or Kakarrot.

"I don't know," he responded, situating himself in the tree so that his legs dangled from the branch and he could lean back against the trunk. "I guess it's like sleeping."

"Kakarrot thinks it doesn't end."

So maybe he was wrong. Maybe she would talk about it with other people. But Kakarrot was _Kakarrot_, as innocent as he was oblivious.

"Maybe it doesn't," said Radditz, because it would make her happy. Azuki grinned, flipping herself higher into the tree, and then she was Azuki again, laughing and smirking and calling out to him that he was as slow as a slug, that he better catch up, as she vaulted herself through the woods.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Told you guys that updates would be slower. Hopefully not THAT slow, though. It's also very short. Sorry! I hope to get the next update out within the week.**

**Sm: Haha, ok...? I'll put something in the summary, if it really bothers you that much.  
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Chapter 3

Bulma climbed the steep, stone steps up into the very top of the colosseum, looking down the hundreds of rows at the sandy arena far below. In her lifetime, the massive creation had never been filled. There weren't enough people in Ring One and Ring Two to occupy every single seat, but supposedly there had been a time, long ago, when the seats would be filled with screaming people, all excited to see the sparring match that would be held below.

She hadn't been here since two years ago, when she had come to watch Prince Vegeta face off against Princess Azuki. It had been the fullest the colosseum had ever been (about a third of the seats filled), all the people excited to see a true match between Saiyans. Bulma knew it had been a publicity stunt; a means to show how much more powerful the Saiyans were than everyone else. She closed her eyes and remembered the exact day; the smirk of Azuki, the sneer of Vegeta, the smell of the roasted food that had been served, the sounds of bets being made, the blood splattered in the sand, the cracks of bones breaking.

She sat down in one of the stone seats with a sigh, resting her head on her hands and watching the sun go down over the trees. Bulma thought back to her life in Ring Two, her family, her former friends and colleagues. She didn't see them anymore. She wasn't allowed to go to Ring Two. You had to get special permission to visit the lowly slums.

"I'll ask Vegeta tomorrow," Bulma mused allowed, staring off into the distance of the surrounding woods, where she knew Ring Two was, just like it was before. "There's no reason he shouldn't let me go."

Sighing, Bulma rubbed at her eyes tiredly. It had been a long few days.

She was tired of dealing with the deception. Even though she wasn't a part of it, every ounce of Bulma wanted to know exactly what was happening and why. She was a logical thinker, an intelligent woman, and not knowing something absolutely killed her.

"What are you doing?"

"Even little old me is entitled to a break, I think," Bulma responded without looking up, already able to know that voice from anywhere. It wasn't that they'd spoken often, his voice was just so distinguishable that there was no way she wouldn't recognize it.

Surprising her, Vegeta sat in the seat to her left. She glanced over at him but he, like she had been before, was now staring down at the bottom of the grand arena with dark, brooding eyes. That sat for a long few minutes in silence. "Yes," he said finally, startling her. She had assumed he wasn't going to speak. "A break."

"I'll be done tomorrow."

"Good."

It was so casual; was this how the planning of a man's death went? Zarbon was still a being, still a living, breathing creature; what if he didn't deserve to die? What if he was being forced to do Frieza's biddings with no choice? What if he was brainwashed into believing it was the right thing to do?

"He deserves to die."

Bulma looked up sharply at Vegeta, wondering if he could somehow read thoughts. But that was preposterous. She'd probably be dead if he had heard all the curses she had mentally thrown at him before.

"No one deserves to die," said Bulma calmly, resting her head on her palm, her elbows on her knees. She huffed out a little breath, sharply aware of Vegeta's piercing gaze burning the side of her face.

"What happened to your father?" Bulma didn't even know why she was curious, but it was a mystery that was whispered about throughout Ring Two. People wondered, they wanted to know why he preferred to be called Prince instead of King. Bulma didn't expect him to respond, but she figured that she might not talk to the Prince alone ever again.

Vegeta watched her for a long time, as if sizing her up. Wondering what he'd gain by keeping it from her, or telling her, perhaps? "I killed him," said Vegeta, finally. Bulma's blood suddenly felt chilled, ice-cold. "Since I didn't go through the ceremony of gaining the title of King, I must keep the title of Prince. A small price."

But why? Why did he kill him? She wanted to ask, wanted to know, her curiosity overwhelming her.

But it wasn't supposed to happen this way.

He was a Prince, the ruler of them all. She was a lowly scientist who only lived in Ring One so that someone could be killed. He wasn't supposed to tell these things to her.

Bulma briskly stood, nodding at Vegeta respectfully. People had been put to death, their murders made a show by Vegeta, just for being disrespectful. What if the same happened to her? He was watching her cautiously, like he was waiting for her to strike. What if the second that she was finished he sent her back to Ring Two? Or what if he killed her? "May I visit my family in Ring Two?" she asked, keeping her head low, hoping that it would make him more likely to say yes if she were more respectful. But why would he say no, after all?

"No."

She abruptly jerked her head up to stare at him, wide-eyed, shocked. She began to splutter indignantly, and he watched her calmly, almost mockingly, waiting for her to string together a coherent sentence.

"You – why – why the fuck not?"

His eyebrows raised slowly, a very slight smirk on his face. Vegeta stood, stalking closer to her, and her furious eyes watched him casually stroll by her, heading back up the steps. "Because I said so."

She could only stand there in shocked silence for a few moments, opening and closing her mouth at him, wanting to say _so_ many things but unable to say them for fear he'd kill her on the spot. There was no one out here to see it, after all.

And what came out of her mouth wasn't even something she had intended to say at all. "Why'd you come out here?"

"What?"

"Did you come out here just to ask me what I was doing?"

He turned slowly on his heel, and Bulma was silently afraid she had crossed a line, but she didn't show it. Slowly, ever so slowly, he descended the steps until he was directly in front of her, then he circled her. She determinedly kept her head high, refusing to let him see her fear. His tail flicked agitatedly behind him, and it took all her power not to watch it in awe. "I came out here," he said slowly, silkily, "to think. And you were here. So you ruined it for me."

What did a man like him think about? The people he was going to kill? The possibility of many of his people dying?

Did someone like him fear death?

"Well you ruined it for me, too," said Bulma before she could stop herself. He turned so sharply that it almost made her fall backwards, but she managed to only show her shock by taking a single step away from him, her blue eyes flashing in a silent challenge.

"Did I?"

Bulma faltered. Not exactly the response she had been expecting. At least he was still calm. "Yes," she replied, more and more confidence coming to her. She strut forward, throwing her shoulders back and keeping her head high. He didn't stop her, and Bulma strode right out of the colosseum, leaving the Prince behind.

* * *

><p>She was going to see her family, whether he liked it or not. She missed them, craved their love and comfort and honesty more than anything. She missed her mother's oblivious love, and her father's gentle, wise words. He belonged here, working on this project. He would know how to keep his head out of other people's business. But not her.<p>

This wasn't for her.

Bulma walked the short distance between Ring One and Ring Two in a sort of fog. Crossing through the woods wasn't exactly safe; they were filled with all sorts of beasts and creatures. However, Bulma had to see her family. Had to see them now.

She'd never really liked the forest. It was a necessary evil; it protected them from Frieza, so was useful in that sense. But she didn't like the smell of pine, or the darkness of the trees, or the sounds of the branches rustling in the wind, or the howls of the monsters that resided within. It made her self-conscious, made her want to run, but Bulma was determined _not _to run. She wasn't scared. Wasn't scared at all.

The path wasn't very worn. People who lived in Ring One had no reason to go to Ring Two, and people who lived in Ring Two weren't allowed in Ring One. Needless to say, it was rare for anyone to cross the distance.

The forest began to thin and Bulma found herself outside the rackety, wooden gates that kept creatures out of Ring Two. _Home_.

Before she knew it, she was running, a wide grin on her face. Her feet navigated the dirt paths easily, leading her in-between shacks and dark, decaying alleyways until she was standing outside the little hut that she had once called home.

Bulma took a deep breath of the smoky air before brushing aside the curtain and entering her former home.

"Mom? Dad?"

They should've been there. It should've been easy to spot them. They should've been where they were supposed to be; her mother moving about in the kitchen, the smells of soup in the air, her father seated at the table and tinkering with some kind of project that he would perfect, even with limited resources.

They were there. It was easy to spot them. But they weren't where they were supposed to be.

Her mother dangling from the ceiling, feet off the floor, neck snapped, rope around her neck. Her father slumped on the floor, his blood in a puddle around him, a knife in his back.

The sound of the door slamming shut reverberated throughout the room, and Bulma whirled around, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.

_No_.

And there he stood, the killer,

Black hair in a flame-shape, dark, evil eyes, a smirk on his face, and blood dripping from his fingers.

But no, no – Bulma blinked and the picture her mind had conjured disappeared – the killer was not Vegeta, but a stick-thin man in rags with a deranged look in his eye and flexing his blood-stained fingers.

"You get Ring One…Me, nothing…" he fumbled out, stumbling over his own words and glancing back and forth between Bulma and the two bodies rapidly. The very pupils of his eyes were shaking, and Bulma took a terrified step back, her brilliant mind unable to function quickly enough to react.

"Not fair…you die, too." The man took a jerky step forward, his eyes still flashing back and forth, back and forth. He had no weapon in his hands, but he had his arms extended as if to take her neck in them and squeeze the life out of her.

Her mind finally caught up with her body, and Bulma screamed. She stumbled backwards and tripped over her father's body, slamming into the floor and in the puddle of blood. She scrambled for the knife in the back of her – her – for the knife, pulling it out and shakily pointing it in the direction of the killer. He faltered, his shaky eyes now blinking at the knife, back to her, then back to the knife.

"Take, take," he muttered to himself, and Bulma could feel her heart beating in her chest, "that's all you from Ring One do. Take. Take."

She had the upper hand – all she had to do was reach forward, slam the knife into his chest, and she'd be safe.

Bulma bumped into something at her back and she whirled, swinging the knife, only to realize that she had been steadily backing up the entire time and had hit her mother's hanged body. Her heart stopped and she froze, staring up into her mother's dead eyes, the same mother that had fed her and hugged her and held her and loved her.

And then his hands were over her mouth. She tried to scream – the smell of blood became more prominent in her lungs, and she realized, belatedly, that she was smelling the blood on his hands. Instinct took over and she swung the knife wildly, but he had power and strength on his side. Before she could make contact with him, he had crashed his fist into her skull, making her body crumple onto the floor.

Her mind screamed at her – you're gonna die _move_ – and she rolled over and _thrust_ the knife upwards with her eyes shut. She could feel it make contact and instantly felt the hot, sticky blood running down her hands, and then something heavy fell on top of her.

Eyes still shut, Bulma wormed her way out from underneath the body of her would-be killer, leaving her knife imbedded in whatever body part she had hit, crawling away until she hit a wall. She finally opened her eyes and pressed her face into the wall, taking in deep, rapid breaths.

She distantly heard the door open but couldn't find it within herself to lift her head off of the wall. If one of the man's friends was here to finish the job, so be it. Only when the newcomer said, in a deep voice, "Your device works," did she look up.

Vegeta was standing in front of her, blocking the sight of the three bodies from view. He was holding her tracker in his left hand and waving it down at her, looking rather bored and not surprised at all at the situation at hand. "I told you not to come here for a reason." She could only blink her wet eyelashes up at him. "People from Ring Two hate those from Ring One." And before she could shut her eyes, he had turned and grabbed the murderer's body up off the floor and held him at arm's length towards her. Bulma's knife was stuck in his neck and blood had steadily flowed downwards from it, staining his chest and rags. His eyes were finally still; wide and glossy. Bulma screamed, scrambling to her feet and stumbling towards the door. It was still open from when Vegeta had come in, and she fell out of it, her knees hitting the dirt ground as she vomited.

"Pathetic." Vegeta was still speaking and had apparently followed her out into the cool night air. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone? "And I thought," he whispered tauntingly, his voice suddenly loud in her ear, as if he were _right there_, "that no one deserved to die?"

It was like he had taken his heart in her hand and just squeezed. It was like he had punched her in the gut.

In that moment, Bulma Briefs realized that Prince Vegeta was evil.

"You bastard," she spit through the vomit in her mouth, pushing herself to her feet and precariously stumbling away from the Saiyan behind her. He watched, a smirk on his face. Bulma tried to blink away the fog, but the ground rushed up to meet her and she fell back to her knees. She began to crawl on all fours - she just wanted to get away, get away from the death and murder and evil behind her.

But the evil kept following her.

"Am I? Am I evil for killing? Are you evil for protecting yourself? What's the difference between evil and sane?"

"Leave me alone!" Bulma wailed, placing both hands over her ears. Could he not leave her to mourn? To lose her mind? "This is all your fault! I should've stayed in Ring One; none of this would've happened, they'd still be a-alive - "

"When people are meant to die, they die. That man was meant to die. Your family was meant to die. You were meant to live."

"And are you?" Bulma spat. "Are you meant to live, or were you born to die?"

There was a long, drawn out pause. He probably wouldn't answer her. Bulma dug her fingers into the dirt, desperate to hold something solid, absolute.

"I suppose that remains to be seen."

And maybe _she_ was evil for it - but she couldn't help the tiny part of her that hoped this war would end with both Frieza and Vegeta dead.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Pull," Azuki called out halfheartedly to her companion, watching Kakarrot tug on the lever that shot a small brown discus up into the cool blue air. Gohan, blindfold in place, turned and fired a ki blast that hit its target, shattering clay over them all.

The three of them were situated in a clearing of the forest that they visited often. Their wooden machine was roughly three feet tall and sat in the middle, rather out of place; a brown mechanism that had been invented some twenty years ago. The clearing had seen them many times, running to escape either Chi-Chi or Vegeta's controlling grasps.

"Gohan, I don't understand why you can't trust me," Kakarrot was saying from his place next to the lever, staring heatedly at his son. Gohan was glad that his father couldn't see his eyes, for they might give him away – the topic had been approached many times, but he had managed to avoid it thus far. Azuki, lying out on the grassy slope with her arms behind her head, rolled her eyes.

"Dad, it's not a big deal," Gohan muttered as he heard his father pull the lever again. Perking up his ears, he used his refined sense of hearing to spot the location of the discus without sight and fired, grinning at the satisfying sound of clay shattering.

"But –"

"Just tell him, Gohan," Azuki cut in suddenly, her eyes shut peacefully. Gohan would've done a double take had he not been blinded. What?

"Wha –"

"You know?" Kakarrot accused, his normally gentle eyes turning on Azuki in accusation. She grinned lazily up at him, chewing nonchalantly on a piece of grass.

"You may have some fucked up honor code about stalking your son, but I don't," she replied with a halfhearted shrug.

"So tell me!" Kakarrot practically begged, rushing over to her and crouching on his knees, clasping his hands together and using his puppy dog eyes that he knew amused her.

"Azuki, don't –"

"No, Gohan. This is getting ridiculous," Azuki cut him off, leaning up on her elbows to glance over at the younger half-Saiyan. Gohan had long since removed his blindfold and was staring at the pair of them, aghast. "The kid's been sneaking out – "

"Please!"

" – to go off and kill game out in the woods. There. Is it really that big of a deal? Shit." Kakarrot blinked up at her, shocked. "Kid's got bloodlust. It might not have happened to you, but it happens to most Saiyans. At least he isn't off killing citizens."

Gohan's wide-open mouth shut abruptly. He shot Azuki a humiliated – albeit thankful – glare, and she winked back in response, closing her eyes once again. Kakarrot turned from Azuki to Gohan slowly, his shoulders sagged in slight relief. "That was it? Gohan, you know you could've told me that."

"I just didn't want you to be ashamed of me," said Gohan, scratching the back of his neck and ducking his head to avoid the gaze of his father.

"Ashamed? I would never be ashamed of you, Gohan."

Azuki feigned gagging, and just like that, the topic was dropped.

* * *

><p>Gohan chose to return home last, lingering in the woods with his back propped up against a tree. He ripped out grass from the ground in frustration, his hands balled into fists and his jaw clenched. He didn't know why Azuki had covered for him, but he knew that she was going to want payment. Everything Azuki did usually came with an ulterior motive, and he found himself doubting her words and actions more often than not.<p>

She had left right after his dad with the vague explanation of going to talk to Jude, and Gohan was relieved to see her go, worried that she might demand the truth from him. But was this different? Did she truly just want to help him out? He knew from experience that she was more tolerant ('like' may not be the exact word) of him and his father because of their more innocent natures. It was hard to gain Azuki's trust, and harder to keep it.

The sun was starting to set, casting purple rays in the sky. The wolves would be out soon, and though it was nothing he couldn't handle, he should probably return lest his mother give him a hard time. Gohan got to his feet and stretched out his limbs, giving a satisfied groan as his muscles loosened up. He yawned, scratching a scab on his elbow, and began to trek back to Ring One.

It wasn't moments later that a blur caught the edge of his vision. Before he could react even with his quick reflexes, something had slammed him into the trunk of a tree rather forcefully, making the very air whoosh out of him. Instinct kicked in and he tried to knee whatever creature had him pinned, but before he could make contact his captor had a hand around his neck, the other fisted in the collar of his shirt.

He knew it. He _knew _it.

"Azuki, lemme go!" Gohan shouted, squirming in her grip, but she just leered at him and tightened her grip on his neck. Gohan's hands flew up, desperately trying to loosen her fingers as it became hard to breathe. His heart was pumping quickly but he forced it to slow, knowing Azuki wouldn't _really_ hurt him. Rough him up a bit, but not kill.

He tried to squash the doubt.

"Have you heard talks that there's a traitor in our midst, little Gohan?"

His heart stopped. No. She didn't – she couldn't – _no_. He tried to suck in breath to respond, but her grip was preventing that.

"Rumors they may be. But your behavior intrigues me." Her eyes caught the light from the fleeing sun, and she grinned so that her pointed canines were showing. Gohan squashed down the whimper that desperately wanted to burst forth. Where was his dad when he needed him? He always knew how to calm her down, even more so than Gohan had ever been able to. "I tried to follow you a few days ago. You know that. You lost me. How'd you do that, Gohan?"

"A-Azuki –"

She slammed him back in the tree, apparently not eager to hear his voice. Gohan shut his eyes, the look of her eagerness scaring him. Why was his dad never there when he desperately needed him?

He felt her grip loosen and sucked air gratefully into his lungs, eyes flying open. She grinned sickeningly, then threw him one-handed onto the ground, making leaves fly up everywhere. Gohan looked up at her – she seemed taller than normal, looming over him, framed in the setting sunlight – as she placed one black boot on his chest and pointed her open palm down at him. He watched, eyes wide, as she cocked her head to the side, mouth a thin line.

"Daddy's not coming," said Azuki, all traces of teasing gone from her voice, replaced by a hardness. "I care about you, Gohan. _I do_." It was almost mocking, the way she said it as she threatened to kill him. But somewhere in him that wasn't currently terrified, he knew she meant it in some sick, twisted way – she probably thought killing him would be good for him, or something of the sort, knowing Azuki. Great. "But I suggest you tell me what you've been doing before I _destroy_ you."

* * *

><p>"We're leaving."<p>

"Go, then."

Vegeta stared down at the pathetic excuse for a life form that was in front of him. Damn woman, couldn't even take a few deaths. It was shameful. He wanted to turn around and leave her there – or maybe even knock some sense into her. Vegeta wasn't all for carrying this bag of skin and bones around with him for the next few days or so.

"You're coming," he said, deciding to go in for the kill straight away.

The scientist was lying on her stomach, bundled up in her bed, so he couldn't see her reaction. She didn't even move. Becoming rapidly annoyed, Vegeta blew out air through his teeth, starting forward with every intention to drag her out with him. They were wasting valuable time just because of _her_.

"Why?" she finally responded in that dead voice.

"_Because_," he replied, voice mockingly patient, "if you're device gets broken somehow, do you think I'm going to hand it over to Nappa to fix?"

"Why don't you fix it yourself, great, knowledgeable, holier-than-thou Prince?"

His face flushed just as his fists clenched. He was _not_ about to take her insults. Vegeta crossed the cramped room in two strides and threw off her blanket. A half-second later his hand was clenched around her ankle and he threw her onto the dirt floor without batting an eye.

She was no longer crying (thank the gods) but her cheeks were slightly sunken in and her hair was limp and lifeless. He curled his lip in disgust at how easily a human could be broken. She blinked up at him in – shock, maybe? – and then he saw the anger creep in. Vegeta smirked.

"Get _out_!" the harpy screamed, flailing her limbs in an odd dance of some sort that may have been dear to her culture. He didn't know or particularly care, but he raised an eyebrow in amusement, folding his arms over his chest.

"Need I repeat myself? We're leaving."

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Bulma spat, rising to her knees.

"I wasn't aware that you had a choice."

She blinked up at him and it was as if a switch had been turned off – blessed silence. He could see the anger bubbling underneath the surface, threatening to spill forth. "Pack what little belongings you need and meet us at the entrance. Pack sparingly – we're walking."

"I hate you."

"I'm wounded."

* * *

><p>Darkness had fallen when Bulma joined the small army, her one change of clothes stuffed in a pack that she had slung over her shoulder and it considerably terrible spirits - it was difficult trying to forget the happenings of the previous night, but she was attempting it. Bulma surveyed the impromptu group in disbelief.<p>

Radditz, Nappa, Vegeta, Azuki, Gohan, Kakarrot, and Jude were the only people present. Only Jude seemed to have brought anything with him, a bow and quiver full of arrows slung over his shoulder, a sword strapped to his back, and countless knives situated all over his arms and legs and belt.

Five men, a girl, and a boy to take out Zarbon's army?

Nappa was unashamedly scratching his crotch, Kakarrot had his head cocked to the side and was cleaning out his ear with his pinky, Gohan was digging the toe of his boot into the dirt and glancing furtively at Azuki, Azuki was wielding Jude's sword and waving it around dangerously (while also saying she was disgusted that he had to rely on such a tool), Jude was telling her he'd teach her how to use it, and Radditz was glaring heatedly at the latter two like a child told he had to sit out from play.

Bulma blinked at them all.

Vegeta tossed an object at her and she caught it, glancing down at her own invention. It was already turned on and the coordinates of Zarbon's army were blinking up at her.

"We'll travel by night and sleep in the day. It'll be more dangerous, but less likely that we'll be seen by any of Frieza's scouts," commanded Vegeta.

Night was when the monsters, the wolves, the beasts came out to feed. Those that were among them could take out the monsters with little difficulty, but what about Bulma? The creatures of the forests were notoriously smart, however, and would probably know it was in their best interest to avoid the group of warriors.

"Let's go."

* * *

><p>"I don't know if the stories of our ancestors being able to fly are true, but I could really fucking use that right about now," Nappa moaned as they all trudged along through the dark forest. Bulma silently agreed. She was lagging far behind the group, and despite knowing how dangerous that was, she couldn't quite find it within herself to speed up. Vegeta was far ahead, leading them on. He'd long since snatched her blinking device from her after realizing she wasn't fit enough to keep up with his mad pace.<p>

She didn't know how many hours they'd been walking, but it seemed like an eternity. It wasn't a nice little _walk_ either - it was a brisk pace that showed no signs of getting any slower.

"Tell me about it," Radditz groaned, trudging alongside his fellow Saiyan.

"You're both pathetic - aren't Saiyans supposed to be in good shape?" A voice called from up in the trees, and a moment later Jude's head popped out from the leaves. He seemed to prefer to swing up above them, out of sight, occasionally insulting them from his safe place.

"Watch it, Asisca," Radditz growled lowly while Nappa just shook his head, brushing off the comment like he had done the many others about how 'shiny' his bald head looked from up there.

"Aw, wittle Radditz can't handle insults to his big, bad physique?" called Jude in a baby voice, his head disappearing again. Not even a rustle gave away his position as he flew through the branches.

"You're all brave up in the trees, little boy, but come down here and you're - "

"Oh, take a joke, Radditz," Azuki called back to them from up by Kakarrot, waving her hand dismissively. A loud, musical laugh came from up in the trees and Radditz's face reddened immediately. He bowed his head in embarrassment.

A blur was all Bulma saw before a figure dropped from the sky and landed neatly beside her. Try as she might, she couldn't help but jump, her nerves already on edge. Bulma glared at Jude, not afraid of the assassin in the slightest. He was young, like Azuki, and she couldn't find his demeanor at all intimidating. He was just too...pretty.

Jude winked at her, then puffed out his chest, threw back his shoulders, and perfected Radditz's walk down to a T. Bulma giggled behind her hand, then looked innocent as Radditz turned to glare at them both right as Jude returned to walking normally. The assassin winked and waved, and Radditz just rolled his eyes and turned away.

"Got the ego of kings, these Saiyans," whispered Jude in her ear, so low that she had trouble hearing him. Bulma laughed at him, and he winked down at her, grinning lazily. "Say, you look pretty tired," the assassin returned to talking at his normal tone, giving her a not-so-innocent once-over. "Need a ride? I may not be a Saiyan, but you can't weigh more than a potato sack. I promise it's not a guise to get a good feel in - ok, so maybe it is, but I won't linger for too long."

Jude was refreshing to have around after being stuck with the Saiyans for so long, and Bulma found herself smiling easily around him. It was no wonder he was one of the few that could handle being around Azuki - he seemed to take nothing seriously.

Bulma shook her head. "Tempting, but I'll pass."

He side-stepped around her and walked backwards, directly in front of her. She cocked an amused eyebrow. "What's your problem?" He asked without malice. "I get that being stuck with Saiyans is no fun, but I handle it pretty well, not to brag."

"I'm fine," Bulma replied with a little more force than was probably necessary. She felt a little guilty as Jude lifted his hands in mock-surrender, but it wasn't as if she was having the best of weeks. She was trying to keep her mind off the image of her parents dead bodies, and the way the knife had slipped so easily into the head of her would-be murderer.

"Can't blame a guy for trying." He fell back into step beside her. "Look, none of us are going to bite. Kakarrot, though fucking ridiculous in combat, has the viciousness of a butterfly. Gohan's about as innocent as they come. Vegeta - well, Vegeta is a," he leaned close so that he could whisper in her ear, "jackass" then straightened back up, "but he's a good leader. Radditz is an idiot, but it's all in good fun." She couldn't help but notice Radditz's tail stiffen - Jude hadn't bothered to keep his voice low. "And Azuki's the exact same way she looks - crazy. But she won't bite you."

"You have a death wish," Bulma remarked, shivering from the chill that had set in the air. She didn't know how the Saiyans hadn't killed Jude yet - he wasn't afraid of them in the slightest, and she knew for a fact that they liked to be feared. The only one he seemed to show the slightest bit of respect to was Vegeta.

"Maybe," replied Jude with a laugh, hopping on the balls of his feet, preparing to swing back up into the trees, "but it's fun to see the Saiyans squirm. You'll find out eventually," he said with a wink. Azuki turned to watch the two of them with a scowl, ignoring Radditz's stare burning into her, instead watching Jude jump back up into the trees. Her eyes watched the form of Jude - one that Bulma couldn't spot for the life of her, and she was curious as to how Azuki could - and just as he must've been straight above her, Azuki vaulted herself into the trees after him.

There was a squeal that Azuki couldn't have possibly made, then a form fell from the trees and smacked into the ground right on his back. Jude grimaced, glancing up at Vegeta, whom he had landed right in front of. The Prince curled his lip at the assassin. "Pardon me, Prince," he said with an embarrassed smile, Azuki's laugh twinkling from the treetops.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about the lateness. Everything is Legend of Korra and nothing hurts.**

**Also, I apologize for not replying to you guys' reviews. I'll get back to that after this chapter, I promise!  
><strong>

Chapter 5

It was daunting, to say the least.

Nappa clapped his hands together, and then wiped his sweaty palms on the thighs of his pants, an excited grin on his face. Azuki hopped from foot to foot, neck craned backwards and eyes on the dark night sky. Jude shouldered his sword and spat on both hands, rubbing them together.

"I can't," said Bulma, but her voice came out in barely more than a croaky whisper. The Saiyans and the assassin paid her no mind – or maybe they just didn't hear her, all of them digging their hands into the terrifying task that lay before them. But Bulma couldn't do it. She knew this. Her only leverage for them not utterly leaving her behind was the mechanism that she currently held in her hands. Her own machine was saving her life.

Every part of her body was sore. First of all, sleeping in daylight had taken quite a bit of getting used to. But sleeping on the hard ground had not done wonders for her body – every single limb and muscle ached. And to top it all off, her shoes were in tatters. She hadn't had the forethought to bring an extra pair, so she had been toughing out the environment barefoot for the last few miles, and her feet were cut up and bruised and they _hurt_.

"Here," said a voice to her right, and she turned, shocked to see Kakarrot offering out his boots to her. She glanced down at his calloused feet in wonderment. Weren't all Saiyans, as a rule, supposed to be selfish bastards? "You're going to need these for climbing."

Bulma glanced up again at the sheer upwards slant of the rocky face of the mountain that loomed dauntingly before them. It wasn't a diagonal – didn't slope off. It was a vertical ascent of craggy mountainside for as far as she could see. The mountain range stretched for miles on either side of them, and apparently the quickest way to the other side was up.

"Yeah," she squeaked out, terrified.

"It's really not too bad once you get going," said Kakarrot, grinning, his head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Bulma focused on his flyaway hair, his friendly grin, her eyes wide and terrified. "There's no place to stop until the top, but no one's ever died going up."

After stuffing her ki tracker securely into her shirt, Bulma slipped on Kakarrot's boots, her hands trembling. They were overly large and engulfed her feet completely, but it'd probably be better than having a jagged rock slice open her foot. "Thanks," she said meekly. Her eyes traveled upwards again. "Won't this make us sitting targets?"

"Well, it is dark," said the Saiyan with a shrug. "We should be fine."

'Should be' was not in any way a definite, but Bulma knew she didn't exactly have a say in the matter.

Kakarrot's son gave her an encouraging smile as he dug his feet into a foothold. "Just follow where my feet go," he said softly. Bulma looked up again. Vegeta, Azuki, Jude, Radditz, and Nappa were already scaling rather quickly, their black shapes swinging upwards like monkeys. "There are a lot of footholds." Bulma nodded, digging her hands into cracks in the wall, just underneath Gohan.

"Don't be afraid," said Kakarrot.

"A step at a time," said Gohan.

And all Bulma could think about was that she couldn't even see where this mountain-face ended, couldn't even see where she'd be able to swing onto solid ground again.

She wasn't strong enough for this.

"Hurry up!" barked Vegeta from way up above. Bulma tried not to look up. She kept her eyes focused on Gohan's feet, on his hands.

"Keep going."

"Don't stop."

Step at a time, step at a time. Hand here, foot there. Hand here, foot there. Every part of her body ached; she longed to just let go and fall. Oh, the release, the relief.

It _hurt._

"I can't," gasped Bulma, and Kakarrot looked down at her worriedly. Her fingers were bleeding, making every handhold harder to grasp, harder to hold. One slip would be the death of her. Her entire body was quivering, aching at the task of keeping herself up. Kakarrot swung down so that he was right next to her. Bulma took deep, gasping breaths, panic beginning to set in. Would they leave her? Would they abandon her?

"Come on." Kakarrot shuffled over to her, so close that their sides were touching. "Get on my back."

"You're crazy," Bulma gasped out, keeping her eyes fixed on the rocky wall in front of her so that she wouldn't lose concentration.

"Get on. Come on."

She looked at him strangely. She hadn't been in much contact with Kakarrot since her first day in Ring One. Why did he care about her? Why hadn't he left her behind just like the others?

Carefully, Bulma positioned herself so that she could climb on top of the Saiyan's back. "We probably should've just done this sooner," said Kakarrot with a slight chuckle, and then he barreled them upwards so quickly that Bulma had hold in a scream, her arms wrapping tightly around Kakarrot's neck and probably choking the poor thing. Gohan leapt after them, and Bulma marveled at how they had been holding themselves back just for her.

"Why'd you stay behind for me?" she finally asked as they began to catch up with the others.

"Well, someone has to," was the simple response.

The cold night air had been making her teeth shatter only moments before, but now she found herself wrapped in the heat emanating from Kakarrot's body, and she drifted into a half-asleep state, her arms wrapped tightly around the Saiyan's neck. Jude was directly above them, and the rhythmic way that the snakes on the hilt of his sword were moving was lulling her into a sense of security.

Bulma wasn't sure how much time passed when the shout of "_Incoming_!" jolted her into awareness.

Something crashed into the rock above them with a loud crash. Bulma screamed as Kakarrot shouted, "Hold on!" Debris rained down on them and Bulma pressed her face into Kakarrot's gi, closing her eyes as dust infiltrated her nostrils and mouth and rocks collided with their bodies.

"Fuck."

"Well that's a dampener on a decent day."

The casual voices of Azuki and Jude respectively did nothing to calm Bulma's pounding heart. They were at least half-way up the mountain. Bulma couldn't even make out the ground below, a layer of fog obscuring it. A fall would surely be the death of craned her neck as far back as she dare and glanced in the direction the blast of ki had come from. Far off in the distance, somewhere on a ledge of the distant mountain range, bright lights were shining.

And one was rapidly approaching.

"Aaaand they just don't give up," Azuki said as she swung herself so that she was hanging onto the cliff by only one hand. She fired a ki blast that collided with the oncoming attack, showering them all in sparks and saving them from the collision.

"Quickly!" Vegeta shouted from above, and Bulma nearly lost her grip by the way Kakarrot rapidly hauled them upwards.

They passed Azuki and Jude, who seemed to be enjoying the excitement. Jude nodded at Azuki, who grabbed the hood of his coat in one hand and hung precariously onto the mountainside with the other. And as Bulma watched, Jude let go. For a terrifying moment he hung, suspended, in mid air – and then he fell. Azuki's body went taught as she held him up, the only thing keeping him falling to his death miles below.

A second later Jude had his bow out and an arrow strung. Even in the limited space he had, he fired, and a figure on the far off mountainside fell.

Nappa was firing ki blasts at their enemies, but they seemed unconcerned with him. Just as Jude strung another arrow, five ki blasts locked on to the assassin and Saiyan team.

"Azuki!" Radditz yelled, and he, Nappa, Gohan, and Vegeta managed to stop four of the five, but one made its mark and crashed directly into the duo. A great cloud of dust rose up and Bulma screamed, her arms wrapped around Kakarrot's neck so tightly that he was gasping for breath. When the dust cloud cleared, Azuki and Jude were gone.

Their bodies were freefalling, two forms that were headed rapidly for the ground miles below.

"_Azuki_!" Radditz screamed again, sliding down a few feet as if he planned on leaping into the air after her. Sense seemed to return after a few moments, and he, like the rest of them, was forced to simply watch the pair freefall.

Jude, falling back first, his chest pointed upwards at them, produced a grappling hook from his pack. He swung it a few times around his head and then hurled it upwards. As it flew towards them, Azuki's form was trying to get some kind of purchase on the rock next to her. She dug her hands into the mountainside, but she was moving far too quickly downwards and was simply torn away.

Jude's rope ended up nearest to Nappa, and the Saiyan caught it and slid down a few feet as the force dragged him down. He managed to hold on, and Jude's body yanked to a stop. He turned and tried to grab onto Azuki, but she slipped through his hands and continued to plummet downwards.

Azuki turned, cupping both hands towards the ground, and fired a powerful wave of ki. It slowed her down just enough so that she could sink her hands into the mountain.

"_Hang on_!"

No one had been paying attention to her enemies, eyes locked on the drama below, so they only had Gohan's words of warning to give them a heads up. The space around them exploded.

Bulma screamed, every force and power ripping her back, off of her carrier. The debris that coated them blinded her, and she felt rocks colliding into her body. In one moment her hands went from gripping solid to grasping desperately onto air – she'd fall, she'd die, her body broken –

Something grabbed onto her shirt and _yanked_ her upwards, slamming her roughly into the mountainside. A body pressed against her back and Bulma had the distinct feeling of being enclosed, pressed up against the rock.

"_Move_!" commanded a rough voice in her ear, far different from the friendlier voice of Kakarrot that she had been expecting.

It kicked her into action. Bulma began to scale the mountain as quickly as she could, painfully aware of the hot breath of Vegeta on her neck as he shielded her body with his.

"Vegeta, watch out!"

Vegeta's body slammed into her's roughly, making all of the breath whoosh out of her chest. She was sure Vegeta had been hit, sure that soon his body would no longer be over her's, protecting her, but Vegeta held fast.

"_Why the fuck are you stopping_!"

Hand here, foot there. There was no one for her to watch, no steps to imitate, but Bulma could see the end in sight. Explosions sounded from all around her, lights flashed in brilliant displays of color, but all Bulma could focus on was the straightening off of the rock that surely meant solid ground.

And then his hand gripped around her arm, and for a desperate second he ripped her from the mountainside and she was suspended in midair – was he about to say hell with it and just let her fall? – but then she was slung upwards. Bulma landed on the solid ground with a sharp cry of relief.

Vegeta followed soon after, and he hopped to his feet, cupped both hands in front of him, and fired the biggest beam of ki that she had ever seen.

The bright blue light connected with their enemies and decimated the far off ledge.

Sweet silence followed. Bulma found herself unable to even stand; just laid on her back and took deep, gasping breaths. One by one the other members of their party hauled themselves up onto the ledge and lay in similar positions to Bulma, trying to gain their bearings. Azuki was the last to arrive, the skin on her hands in horrible condition, ripped and coated in blood. Radditz hurried to attempt to pull her up, but she growled at him in warning.

After a few minutes of nothing but the sound of deep, gasping breaths, Jude said, "That was fun."

Azuki laughed. Jude joined in shortly after. Soon the two teenagers were laughing so hard that they were choking, tears in their eyes. Jude went so far as to beat his fists on the ground, and Azuki rolled onto her stomach, hands clutching her sides. Everyone else just glared at them.

Bulma really didn't see what was so funny.

* * *

><p>Bulma was still awake when Azuki and Radditz crept off. How was she supposed to sleep when it was daylight and the mountain rock was hard and uncomfortable? It was supposed to be their turn to watch; why were they leaving? Propping herself on one elbow, Bulma silently watched as they disappeared into the darkness. She squinted against the bright sun and considered following them. They'd hear her, for sure. And she wasn't sure what'd she catch them doing.<p>

Bulma surveyed her companions. Nappa was snoring loudly, one arm thrown over his eyes. Vegeta was breathing heavily on his back, his mouth slightly open. Gohan was curled up against his dad, who's snoring rivaled Nappa's. And Jude –

Jude was staring right at her. He didn't even look away when she caught him. Bulma turned her head away, rolling over and giving him her back. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest; she felt as though she'd been caught seeing something that she wasn't supposed to.

After a few minutes, Bulma heard someone rise. They stepped deliberately around her, and she shut her eyes quickly as Jude followed Radditz and Azuki at a slow, stealthy pace.

Bulma bit her lip and glanced at those that remained again. She almost squeaked when she saw Vegeta, his black predatory eyes locked on Jude's retreated form, narrowed in hatred and suspicion.

Bulma shut her eyes and tried to sleep. She heard Vegeta get up, and peeked out at him through one cracked eye. Instead of following in the direction his sister, Radditz, and Jude had taken, Vegeta walked in the opposite direction. After a few minutes of internal warring and asking herself if she had a death wish, Bulma got to her feet and followed the Saiyan Prince.

"If you think you're being stealthy, you're wrong."

He was standing at the very edge of the cliff, staring out. Bulma could make out the forest far below and could even see a field of green grass where the forest ended, off in the distance. She'd never been out of the forest. Never not been surrounded by trees on every side. It was exciting, but also - also terrifying. The forest gave them sanctuary, protected them, and it seemed like out there, out in the open, a large matter of things could kill you in no time at all.

Frieza was out there, somewhere.

Briefly, Bulma wondered if that's where Vegeta was looking. Gazing out in the distance where he knew Frieza's palace stood, where Frieza was, waiting on him. Waiting on their decisive battle that was fated to happen.

Ignoring her fears, Bulma shuffled up to the edge of the cliff so that she could stand next to Vegeta. He didn't acknowledge her any further.

"What are they doing?" asked Bulma curiously, staring up into Vegeta's face for any hint of emotion. "Azuki, Radditz, and Jude. Where were they going?"

Maybe she could put her fears to rest, knowing that perhaps Vegeta had sent them away. Perhaps it was all part of some plan. They were just following orders. Doing what they were supposed to.

She knew the answer, even when Vegeta's silence confirmed it.

"Why don't you follow them?" asked Bulma tentatively. Vegeta stayed silent. Bulma through up her hands in frustration. "What does it take to get a response out of you, Mr. Stoic-and-Silent? Gods, you're stubborn." She sat down and crossed her legs, resting her chin on her hand and pouting. Vegeta looked down at her, an eyebrow raised. "Oh, by the way, thanks. You know, for saving me."

"Hn. I was saving your machine, not you. Don't expect it again."

"Maybe I should make sure I hold onto this thing, then." Bulma pulled out her mechanism from her shirt, turning it over in her hands. The hundreds of bright, blinking lights indicated where Zarbon's army was. It was daylight, so they were moving. Vegeta watched for a moment, then returned his gaze on the sky.

"Have you ever met Zarbon?" asked Bulma.

"Once."

"And?"

Vegeta didn't respond, apparently not in the talking mood. Bulma humphed, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest. "You aren't much of a talker." After a moment of deliberation, she asked, "Have you ever met Frieza?"

"...No."

"I wonder what he looks like."

"Why would you wonder such a thing?" Vegeta asked, as if disgusted with her.

"Why not?" asked Bulma, shrugging. "What do you wonder about?"

"How powerful he is. What color his blood is. What he will look like after I destroy him."

"...I think my thoughts were more, erm, normal."

Vegeta smirked.

* * *

><p>The climb down the mountain was considerably less eventful then the climb up had been. It required quite a bit less effort, though Bulma wouldn't exactly know, perched on her ride – Kakarrot's back. Bulma could basically feel the tension crackling in the air between Azuki, Radditz, Jude, and Vegeta. Bulma was pretty sure Jude had told Azuki that she'd seen them leave, as well, as the young Saiyan had given her a violent glare that had sent chills down the older woman's spine.<p>

She was well aware of the fragility of her body when compared to these people.

But nothing was said. Vegeta didn't explode at his sister, and his sister didn't explode at Bulma. She wasn't sure if there was some kind of code for these things, if you just weren't supposed to talk about them. Azuki and Radditz and Jude were free to go off and do whatever they pleased – have threesomes or whatever sick stuff they got into. Bulma didn't care.

Well, that's what she told herself, anyway. Another, more curious part of herself, almost wished that she'd followed them.

When they touched back down on solid ground and retreated quickly into the sanctuary of the forest, Bulma pointed them in the right direction. They were getting closer.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this one. Truth is, it's been done for a while, I just didn't care for it very much. After countless rewrites, I'm resigned to just hating this chapter.**

**Also, Avengers was awesome, right? Anyone else go see it? I've busied myself reading several Avengers fanfics lately, and if you guys have any suggestions, feel free to throw them at me.  
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**Also OMG the trailer for the Great Gatsby with Leo Dicaprio? Holy. Shit. Looks so good, can't wait.  
><strong>

**I'm also (I have a lot of news, ahem) working on a short little Azula AU one-shot in which Azula and Zuko have a roll-reversal. Be on the lookout!  
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Chapter 6

Bulma watched over lowered eyelashes as Vegeta laid out the plan on the forest floor, using sticks and rocks to signify allies and enemies. It was all complicated strategy; you move here, you go here, you stay here. You block this section, you take this area. Former bitterness was gone; in this moment, all the Saiyans and the assassin were acting as one being, fixed on their goal. They all listened to their leader attentively, nodding at his occasional command. They were all brute muscles and ready to kill, ready to slay. Ready to murder. Jude was tracing the snakes that winded down the hilt of his sword, eyes lidded.

"Once I kill Zarbon, we get out, no matter how many are left. Break off in pairs – Azuki and I, Nappa and Radditz, Kakarrot and Gohan, and Jude, you come back for her," Vegeta jerked his head in Bulma's direction. Bulma could see what he was doing – making sure that Radditz, Azuki, and Jude had no time to be alone together. He didn't trust them. It was obvious to even _her. _Shouldn't he have been more secretive about it? Bulma knew that if she felt she wasn't trusted, she'd be even more inclined to break away. "Make sure you aren't followed. Double back, go off course for a while – we have to be sure they don't find where the Rings are located. We aren't staying behind to kill them all. I don't want to have to go through the process of replacing any of your asses if you can't fucking handle being outnumbered." This command was met by varied reactions. Jude looked slightly affronted, Kakarrot cocked his head to the side in a show of perplexion, and Azuki cracked her knuckles with a deadly look in her eye.

They were entirely different people. Something about them - something very real - had suddenly risen to the surface. Their faces were hard as stone, their fists clenched, crackling with raw power and energy. These people were made for destruction. Bulma wondered at how their hands were their weapons – all except Jude – at how lost they would be if they weren't able to rely on their sheer power. Would Vegeta carry himself the same way? Would Kakarrot have the same generous kindess? Would they make up for it in lies and schemes, backstabbing and planning the ultimate downfall of the other?

Zarbon's army was situated just where the forest ended. Bulma could see the smoke rising from their camp over the trees. She had caught a glimpse of the rolling hills of green and had instantly been enthralled, as anyone would be. Living in the forest her whole life, she'd been unable to imagine what it'd be like to not be encased in trees. There was something freeing, but also terrifying, about it. She wanted to run out and feel the open air, feel the soft grass - yet at the same time, the trees gave her protection and she was not keen on leaving them.

She wouldn't be going anywhere, of course. Bulma's frail body would be destroyed if Zarbon's army caught sight of her. Her job was to climb a tree and flee with Jude when he came for her. Turns out she didn't even need to go along with the Saiyans. Her machine had worked perfectly, just as expected, without any kinks.

Jude winked, seemingly unaffected by the transformation from semi-docile to downright violent of the Saiyans going on before him. "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you, little baby," he said, puckering up his lips and making noises at her as if she was a child.

"Yeah yeah," Bulma waved him off, long since used to his antics. "Just don't get yourself killed, or I'm fucked."

Jude smirked, shouldering his sword. He bit the inside of his lip in what he must of thought was a seductive manner, but it only served to make him look nervous. She wondered what he must've been thinking, readying himself to go into battle. Was he afraid? Afraid of death, of failure? Or did he leap into every battle with the assuredness that he was going to win? "Ha, me, _die_. That'll be the day."

"Maybe we'll have to make that day soon, assassin," Radditz growled, narrowed eyes pointed in Jude's direction.

Bulma wasn't sure if it was an act. Radditz truly seemed to despise Jude. Most of the Saiyans did. Even Kakarrot didn't seem to care much for him. But if Radditz, Azuki, and Jude were all in some sort of twisted alliance together, it made sense for Radditz to pretend to have something against Jude. Right?

It gave her a headache just thinking about it.

"Don't get your panties all in a wad, big boy." Jude stood on his tiptoes to pat Radditz on the back, earning a growl from the Saiyan for his troubles.

"We attack in an hour," said Vegeta, interrupting what could have been escalating to a full-blown fight, judging by the way Radditz's tail had bristled. "Hunt accordingly." The others nodded to him, disappearing into the forest to make meals out of beasts and prey. Bulma humphed, resigned to follow Jude, the only one she could keep up with.

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><p>Kakarrot had to help her climb the tree. It wasn't as if she were helpless; there were just no low branches that she could get purchase on. She would've been able to get up in one herself if it were a good climbing tree, she announced several times to her companions, just to make sure that they knew. They all just rolled their eyes at her. She had to climb up onto Kakarrot's shoulders to reach the lowest branch, then was able to get herself up into the thick branches.<p>

Bulma could see the miles and miles of green stretched out outside of the forest from her vantage point. She could also see the hundreds of tents set up and the soldiers leisurely camped around their fires.

The odds weren't exactly in their favor.

"Circle around and be sure to put down the fuel," commanded Vegeta. They planned on making a ring of fire around the forest to hopefully ensure that most of the army wouldn't follow them, and it was important everyone set fire to their sections. "We'll all attack from different sides."

Vegeta stayed by her tree, waiting for his personal army to get into position. He didn't move an inch. Bulma pulled out her ki detector from her shirt, waiting for the other six blinking dots to surround Zarbon's mass of warriors and stop moving.

"They're ready," said Bulma softly once her allies got into place. Vegeta nodded to show that he had heard, but did not spare her a glance. His fists were clenched, his entire body tight, solid muscle ready to pounce and destroy. Before Vegeta could leave her, Bulma muttered, "Good luck."

He looked at her, then. She wasn't sure why he seemed surprised. Maybe because she had hated him so strongly after her parents' – um – passing. It was in Bulma's benefit for the Saiyans to win, however, or she'd be stranded in this tree. She'd likely die before she could make it back to Ring One. She _needed_ the Saiyans, relied on them. So why did he find it so odd that she encourage him?

Vegeta opened his mouth to say something, and, for some reason, Bulma had the gut feeling it was really important. She leaned precariously from her branch to catch his words –

Maybe it would be a thank you or I appreciate that or are you kidding we're all fucked or maybe an I'm sorry that you got dragged into this I'm sorry that all of it happened I'm -

And then someone screamed. Bulma jerked back, looking over at Zarbon's camp, to see that Azuki had begun. She hurriedly looked down so that she may catch sight of Vegeta before he left, but he was already gone.

Bulma bit her lip in determination. Mimicking Jude's movements that she had seen before, she stood straight up on the thick branch she was perched on. Bulma, swaying slightly, took hold of a higher branch and pulled her up to the one nearest to her. She had noticed that quick, fluid movements seemed to make it easier than slow, calculated ones. Vaulting herself upwards, Bulma managed to get high enough as to where she could see the battlefield easily.

It was utter chaos. She had been able to hear the many screams before, but seeing the sources was a different story. Jude was swinging his sword with clean, calculated swipes. Azuki tore into her enemies with a crazed yet elegant eagerness. Radditz and Nappa both were brutally bringing down anyone that opposed them. And they moved so quickly it was difficult to catch sight of them - it appeared that Zarbon's army had deduced that they were all attacking each other, and some set on their own allies viciously.

That was the plan all along, Bulma realized. That's why they didn't need an army to counter Zarbon's.

The sheer power of the Saiyans morbidly enthralled her. Their movements were so controlled, precise – to kill someone with a simple fist, it had to be made with just the _right_ amount of strength and precision. It had to be _perfect_. And how they _moved_ – oh how they moved – it was almost beautiful to watch. It was like they _danced_, leaping and twisting and twirling to avoid possibly fatal blows and slip around like shadows. One slip up, one mistake, would be their death.

Sudden, irrational fear coursed through her.

It was oddly easy to be able to identify who of the group was the strongest. Bulma had known Jude was at the bottom of the food chain, despite his arrogance, even before watching him fight. Radditz was the next slowest. She could easily see his movements, see the way his body twisted and see the way he dodged and hit. Nappa, although slower than Radditz, had blows that made men soar back and out of sight. Nappa was simply _powerful_, moreso than Radditz.

Gohan, although the youngest, was faster than Nappa and had a bit of power behind his blows. He was a small target, and Bulma could feel his knowledge of when to wait and when to strike; something that Nappa undoubtedly lacked. His clear intelligence was his greatest weapon.

Azuki was fast. It was almost impossible for Bulma's untrained eyes to discern Azuki's movements, the way she almost flew around her opponents with a smirk on her face and a delighted laugh coming from her lips. What she lacked in sheer power, she made up for in speed.

Kakarrot had something that Bulma wasn't sure she saw in the others: a controlled elegance and a lack of a desire to kill. Could that be an advantage? While Azuki seemed to delight in causing pain and drawing out their deaths, Kakarrot was quick and efficient when dealing with his pink-skinned opponent whom she knew, from stories, to be Dodoria.

And then Vegeta. Vegeta was fast _and_ powerful. He was almost god-like, the way he attacked and defended.

He was in combat with a large, green-skinned man that had to be Zarbon. Even from her far away vantage point, Bulma could tell that Zarbon was beautiful. There was something about him – something almost hypnotic, something that nearly made Bulma want Vegeta to stop attacking such a wonderful, immaculate specimen –

But then she remembered the stories of Zarbon's cruelties that she had heard and willed Vegeta to win.

She could hear Zarbon taunting Vegeta, even from all the way up in the treetop. Could hear his cruel words and cold threats, could _feel_ Vegeta's hatred and anger in every attempted blow. But Zarbon wasn't one of Frieza's Generals for nothing. Vegeta hadn't managed to get a hit in, while Zarbon had snuck in a few.

"C'mon, Vegeta," Bulma hissed as Vegeta stepped back, breathing heavily, slightly hunched over. Bulma could see Azuki stealing glances over at her brother.

If she were closer, maybe she could've been able to tell – were they out of fear for her brother, or were they filled with an animalistic eagerness at seeing her prey weakened?

Bulma watched the Princess fight several of Zarbon's men. Like Zarbon, Azuki was throwing barbs and insults out at her opponents. Even Bulma, untrained and far away, could tell those she was fighting were positively shaking from anger and rage. They swung desperately but Azuki just ducked and weaved, dancing around her opponents, a childlike laugh echoing in the air around her. She had yet to even try and throw a single blow.

For some reason, the way Azuki fought scared Bulma even more than the others.

Jude was struggling with the sheer number of his opponents, and whipped out a second sword to make up for the disadvantage. He stabbed and sliced and ensured that no one interfered with Kakarrot's battle. Radditz and Nappa were doing the same with Prince Vegeta's. A few men tried to jump to their commander's rescue, but they were batted away with cold efficiency.

When Bulma returned her attention to Vegeta's fight, the extraordinarily beautiful creature was gone. In its place was a horrifying monster, all brutal muscles and a fat face and a strong wave of _evil _hit her. Bulma shrunk back, disgusted and appalled. Where had Zarbon gone? Had Vegeta killed him, only to have him be replaced by an even more terrible monster?

But no – that _was_ Zarbon.

They hadn't been rumors, then. That Zarbon held in a terrible monster of hideous power, that Zarbon had a side to him that he only brought out to his most worthy opponents. That was good, right? It meant he saw Vegeta as a threat.

With a devastating wave of ki, Kakarrot finished off his opponent easily. Dodoria was dead. One of Frieza's commanders; gone, just like that.

"Kakarrot, you and Gohan get out of here! We can handle it!" Bulma could just hear Azuki call out. Gohan seemed to take this command in stride and took off for the forest, but Kakarrot hesitated. Azuki screamed at him again, and he finally took off.

Jude went down, overcome with sheer numbers. Azuki blasted a pathway to him and then threw his body over her shoulder, and then took off into the forest opposite Bulma.

Shit_. That_ had been her ride out. Would any of the others think to come for her?

The battlefield was down to three. Vegeta, Nappa, and Radditz. Vegeta's two men continued to protect his back, blasting away any that dared get too close to the raging battle between Vegeta and Zarbon. Both men were trading blows in the way that only powerful aliens could - quick and easy and brutal.

They were so close to each other that dodging any blow was impossible. They were just swinging wildly, inflicting each other with as many wounds as possible. And then Vegeta threw his weight on top of Zarbon, knocking them both onto the ground, and buried his fist into the monster's chest.

Something happened – Bulma hadn't been paying attention, she missed it – but someone got through the side Radditz was supposed to be protecting and thrust a knife into Vegeta's calf. Vegeta roared, turning to decimate the soldier that dared interfere. Zarbon took that moment to reach forward and grab the Prince by the throat.

Somehow, Nappa had fallen unconscious. Radditz threw the injured Saiyan over his shoulder and disappeared, leaving his Prince behind, alone.

Vegeta turned, placed his palm against the dying monster's head, and fired. Zarbon's body fell back, smoking and charred.

Zarbon's faithful army converged upon the injured Prince. Vegeta blasted and fought a pathway out of them, and towards the forest – towards _her_.

She had to get out before they reached her. Had to leave. Bulma swung her legs over the branch and shut her eyes. Fear was pounding in her head, her heart. Vegeta, injured and hardly able to fight, was leading Zarbon's army right in her direction. However noble his intentions of coming back for her were, she almost would rather that he let her just fend for herself.

Accepting the fact that her next move was going to hurt, Bulma released her hold on the branches and fell. She collided with the forest floor and felt a jolt go up her leg, but before she could register the pain, Bulma shot to her feet and fled.

Bulma heard a shout and registered it to be Vegeta. Ignoring all her most trusted senses, she stopped, turning to watch him limp as fast as he possibly could towards her, turning and firing at those chasing him as he did so.

She wasn't sure what he expected her to do. Fight them off? She had no weapons, no way to hold her own.

And then Vegeta turned, fired a small blast of ki, and the circle of fire roared up around them. A few of Zarbon's men were set ablaze and fell back, writhing and screaming. Bulma flinched, taking a step backwards.

Vegeta took care of those that had gotten past the fire barrier easily, and then limped past her, silently fuming. Bulma followed, intelligently thinking it was probably best not to speak.

* * *

><p>"Get <em>up<em>, Jude," growled Azuki, half-heartedly nudging his side with the toe of her boot. He was lying on the forest floor where she had deposited his unconscious body. How the assassin had managed to get himself in this position, she didn't really know. She hadn't checked him for injuries, not exactly caring. She was not about to carry his body all the way back to Ring One, however. Azuki stubbornly folded her arms over her chest and glared down at him, as if that would wake him up.

"You fucking idiot, if you managed to get yourself killed – " Azuki froze mid-sentence. She hadn't really thought of that. What if he was dead at her feet right now? Curling up a lip, Azuki flipped him over onto his back with her shoe, not even bothering to lean down. She cocked her head to the side when she didn't see his chest rising or falling.

What if he was actually dead?

Fuck.

She'd never dealt with the death of someone she personally knew, before. The thought was utterly foreign. So she wasn't really sure how to react. Was panicking appropriate? Because the feeling rising to the surface felt oddly like panic. Maybe she should hit him? Slap him? Mouth to mouth? She should probably bury him - and just how had the weak piece of shit gotten himself killed in the first place?

Relax, Azuki thought, taking a deep breath. He's not dead. He's not. Jude, die? Ha. Haha.

Ha.

She wished Radditz was there.

"Jude?" Azuki leaned forward, her heart beginning to quicken. What was she supposed to do if he was dead? Never having to deal with his horribly frustrating immunity to her threats was actually – not something that she wanted. "_Jude_? I swear if you – if you're dead – I'm going to _kill _you – "

And the assassin began to laugh.

His eyes shut tight, Jude cackled evilly, his hands clutching his stomach. Azuki looked down at him for half a second, wide-eyed, before she cursed him in a colorful string of vocabulary from several different languages. She reared back a leg to kick him with, but he seemed to sense the threat and hopped to his feet, doubling over in glee.

"Should've heard yourself – who knew the thoughtless Azuki would actually _care_ about someone's death –"

"I didn't care," Azuki muttered grumpily, folding her arms over her chest and pouting as a child who'd been given no candy might. She narrowed her eyes and turned away from him. She refused to let him get a reaction - wait, no, he _was_ getting a reaction - fuck, should she laugh it off? Which one would frustrate him the most...if only she'd just left him behind, acted like it was only a slight downer on her day!_ That_ would've shown him.

Still laughing, Jude panted out, "Imagine if it had been _Radditz_ –"

"I wouldn't bat an eye if he died," spat Azuki, interrupting him forcefully, turned half away from the assassin.

Jude studied her for a moment, and a slow grin spread out on his face. "Gods help whatever poor bastard falls in love with your heartless soul."

"Real funny, you little assfuck."

That only served to make Jude laugh harder.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the lack of updates - I promise it wasn't for lack of trying. I'm facing quite a bit more writer's block with this one than with This Is War.**

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

"And then I'd slice open their stomach, yank out their bloody intestines, wrap them around their neck, and strangle them with them, watching as they either bleed out or asphyxiate. Or I'd rip their still-beating heart from their chest and devour it, blood dripping down my chin. Before they die, so they'd have to watch as they slowly bled out on the ground."

"Charming," said Jude sarcastically, running his fingers through his tangled, blood-matted hair and giving her a look. Azuki grinned, satisfied, a little skip in her step as they trotted through the forest. It was a game they liked to play – who could come up with the most gruesome torture. Azuki's always ended in death - they had to die eventually, anyway - while Jude seemed to like keeping them alive for a while, drawing out their torture. "But you forgot about shattering every bone in their body and – here's the kicker - cutting off their dick."

"The cock, the _cock_ – it always comes back to the cock. Besides, that only works for a male."

Jude looked puzzled, eyebrows disappearing up into his hair. "If it's a female, I'd kill their loved ones in front of them."

"Ignoring the fact that that's terribly sexist of you, what if they didn't love?"

His response was quick, without delay. "Then I'd cut off their breasts." Jude waved a hand through the air, as if this was self-explanatory. Azuki rolled her eyes at him. Men - always so predictable.

"What is it with you and cocks and breasts?"

"Dearest Azuki, _you_ are the only female I know who I'd ever think about splitting open anyway. Other females can be – quite useful in other ways." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, laughing as Azuki turned to give him a good-natured glare.

"You're incredibly predictable, Jude d_ah_ling." Azuki said, mimicking the drawl of the people from the Southern regions of the planet. She wrapped a hand around a branch and swung herself up onto Jude's shoulders, laughing when he tried to shake her off to no avail. The Saiyan tugged on his hair in the way one would pull on the reigns of a horse. "Mush," she commanded, digging her fingernails into his scalp.

"_Am_ I so predictable?" He sounded like the idea genuinely upset him.

Azuki's grin widened, although Jude could not see it. He was predictable - he followed a routine every day, fought with the same style in every battle, and had much of the same reactions to every situations. She could picture his face at that moment; eyebrows raised, half smirk on his face, eyes lazy.

"You are. You rise every morning at sunrise. You wash your hair, rinse your mouth out, and you take your swords and go out to hunt. You kill some game, cook it out in the woods, and eat your breakfast. You return home, content, and seek me out because I'm the only fun in your boring life and you try to sneak up on me, but you are unsuccessful. Every. Time."

Jude doesn't miss a beat. "You've been spying."

"No," replies Azuki, leaning down, hands curled in his hair, and pausing when her lips are at his ear, "you're just predictable."

"Shall _I_ play this game?"

"You'd lose." Azuki tossed her head back and laughed loudly at her own joke, startling a few birds from a nearby tree.

Jude's lip twitched upward, and he marched purposefully towards a tree with a low-hanging branch. Sensing his intentions, Azuki reached upwards and grabbed onto it, lifting herself off of his shoulders and landing neatly on the ground behind him.

"I don't think I'd want to enter your mind, darling. It'd be near impossible to get out of it unscathed."

Azuki smirked, and Jude's eyes lingered on her pointed canines for a fraction of a moment. He tried to look away before she noticed, but Azuki took pride in noticing things that others didn't. The corner of her mouth twitched upward. He was pathetic - she could feel his fear of her, tangible and delicious. He was just stubborn, was all. He didn't want her to have the satisfaction. "You'd never be able to cut me open," said the teenage Saiyan.

"You'd be surprised how widely my talents range, Princess." Azuki hated it when he called her Princess. He didn't use it right, didn't say it like it was her title. He said it like it was a belittling term of endearment, and she hated it. Sometimes, Azuki wished he'd just be like the others - dance circles around her. Treated her like a fuse.

"And you'd be surprised how thoughtlessly I'd break your neck."

Jude turned so suddenly that she stopped dead, coming eye-to-eye with the assassin. His eyes glittered playfully. Jude leaned down so that they were eye-level, and Azuki bit back a growl. She didn't need a reminder that he was taller. _She_ was stronger, and she wasn't afraid to remind him of that fact. He slinked around her snake-like, eyes dancing in the little light from the moon that reached the forest floor. "I never really figured it out."

"Figured _what_ out," she ground out, refusing to be the one to break eye contact. Azuki had a foreboding sense about the sudden change of direction in their conversation.

"I mean...it's entirely too _predictable_ of you, darling."

The game had taken an unexpected turn. Jude's words were entirely too _biting_ to be playful. This was no longer teasing, no longer joking. Azuki waited for him to elaborate, knowing that he would. He had planned this - his words were calculated and chosen with care. It was something they had in common - using words as a tool, a means to an end.

"Why you bother yourself with Radditz."

His words slammed into her like a wall.

_No_.

They had been so horribly, painstakingly careful. No one could have possibly tracked their movements, deciphered the hidden looks that they sent one another. Radditz couldn't have possibly fucked it up - the punishment was his death, not hers. And that was not something Radditz took lightly.

People could only suspect. That's all Jude had - suspicions to act on and clues and hints to work with. He could prove nothing.

The red cleared from her vision and Azuki realized that Jude had walked on by, his back facing her. The assassin turned on his heel when he realized she wasn't following him anymore, a calculated grin on his face, but his eyes narrowed. Azuki wiped the shocked look off of her face as quickly as it come, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about," with as much of a straight face as she could muster.

She could avoid leaving a bloody mess - Jude was important and the fucker knew it or he wouldn't be crossing this line - but if he stopped now she could avoid having to rip his face off and leaving him behind on the forest floor.

She just has to deny it, just has to make him realize how utterly stupid he's being -

"I mean, is he ever on top? Or do you have your way and fuck him exactly like you control him – "

Not a second later Azuki's hand was wrapped around his throat and his back was slammed into a nearby tree. His expression doesn't even change – no surprise, no worry. He'd known she would do this; anticipated every move._ Predictable._ The word leaves a sour taste on her tongue. Azuki got up on her tiptoes so that her eyes were nearly level with his nose and, jaw clenched, hissed out, "I suggest you tell me who gave you this outlandish idea that a Princess such as _myself_ would fuck a lowly, idiotic soldier like him." Yes, that sounded good. It took more effort than it should have for her to wipe off the look of sheer fury and replace it with cold demand.

Jude did his best to shrug while pinned a foot off of the ground, his characteristic lazy smile ever-present. Azuki's insides rolled and twisted, her mind bringing up images of who she needed to kill, who she needed to maim. Who could've known? Had Jude been – had he been spying on them? The thought of the assassin keeping an eye on her made her blood boil, and she slammed Jude into the tree in an effort to get him to talk.

He did, but in such a casual tone that it made her skin crawl. "It sort of makes sense. He's the only other Saiyan sexually available. Even though your relationship is forbidden, it's less forbidden than a relationship with, say, a _human_." He spat out the word like it was a curse, and an unbidden image of Chi-Chi came to mind. Had he always felt so strongly about that relationship? That had been _years_ ago. "Kakarrot got away with it because he's a third-class and at _least_ she's a fighter, even if she is a pathetic one. Didn't Vegeta forbid it at first? Imagine what would happen if he found out about _you_ and _Radditz_…a Princess with a fool."

By now, images of ripping him apart, piece by piece, were forefront in her mind. Fuck denying it. He knew. She wanted to kill him, maim him, destroy him…but she had to know who else she needed to kill, first. If she was too hasty, the rumor could spread like cancer and then Vegeta would be curious and he'd investigate. "If you don't fucking tell me who told you, I'll kill you."

No point denying it anymore.

Jude tilted his head to the side, eyes twinkling with a bit of a challenge in them. Azuki couldn't wrap her head around why, and she _hated_ the fact that she didn't scare him. Even if he did have the tiny inkling of fear when near her, he was dead set against showing it. Azuki liked to have the unpredictably of even her allies worrying that at any moment she could just decide to _kill_ them without pause. Everyone was supposed to fear her - everyone except Vegeta. "No one, Princess. It's my job to know things about people – things that even themselves don't know."

"You spying little shit – " Jude chuckled, low in his throat, at the irony. "I'll kill you."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Princess."

That gave her pause. That was not the expected, predictable response that she had been ready to counter. It was always a game with Jude - who could expect the response and have the wittiest reply, but this was different. "Try me."

"So why haven't you killed me yet? Face it, you enjoy a challenge. You like the fact that I'm not afraid of you. Radditz bores you. He does whatever you tell him to do, no exception. Where's the fun? I won't tell anyone," his voice was as low as a husky whisper now, deep in his throat, and Azuki was just watching him with angry predator eyes, waiting for him to _do_ something. "I promise."

The grip on his neck released suddenly, and he thumped rather ungracefully to the ground, sending up a pile of leaves. Azuki, disgusted, turned away from him and began to head back in the direction they had been walking. Azuki couldn't kill him. He was too fucking important. She was conflicted, and she hated being conflicted – did his promise mean he wouldn't tell anyone about Radditz, or did it mean something else entirely?

He was a loose end that she needed to tie up. What if Vegeta found out? What if he wasn't as good at keeping secrets as he seemed to be? And what – what should she do about it? Kill him?

It should've been easy to just snap his neck. She should've been able to do it in a heartbeat.

If it was anyone else, she would've.

She needed him, Azuki told herself. Needed him for her plan. Otherwise he'd be dead where he stood.

"You're lucky you're valuable, Asisca, or you'd be an unidentifiable mess on the ground. And if you so much as breathe a word, fuck your damned importance." The threat was as much for Azuki as it was for him.

"Here, since I know one of your deepest darkest secrets, I'll tell you one of mine," Jude called from behind her, apparently having gotten to his feet. Azuki rolled her eyes, uncaring. It'd probably just be another sarcastic comment. She was sick of the game - Azuki was ready to be at Ring One and as far away from Jude Asisca as physically possible.

Apparently the assassin had other plans. Jude side-stepped so that he was in front of her, and then his hands were on her shoulders and he pushed her back up against a tree. Azuki's instincts kicked in and she brought a hand up to dig her fist into his face, but he dodged the blow with a cocky smile. He had wrenched the control from her very hands - Jude had the advantage in this game.

"You're about to be in a ditch, Asisca," Azuki growled, the trapped-feeling making her insides crawl – or was it something else? Was it that the predatory gaze was now in Jude's eyes? She could've broken out of his grip in half a second, but curiosity was overwhelming her. What was the point of this? Everything had a point with Jude.

He leaned in, his eyes dancing with amusement. Jude pressed his lips very close to her ear, and Azuki's eyes subconsciously fluttered closed at the warmth of his breath, so in contrast with the cold forest air. "You're a spoiled brat, Princess, and I'm not afraid to tell you." She growled low in warning, but it didn't deter him. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Let someone else be in control for once."

* * *

><p>"Vegeta."<p>

He continued to barrel through the forests, creating a literal path of destruction through the brush and foliage. Vegeta seemed to not care about the noise and clear trail he was leaving, focused on something else entirely that she was not privy to. She followed in his wake, and would've kept silent, but his calf was steadily leading a bloody trail behind them and his limp was growing more and more severe.

Damned stupid Saiyan.

"Vegeta, just let me put moss on it to slow the bleeding. Come on."

He'd been ignoring her for the better part of an hour. Vegeta seemed quite determined to pretend she didn't exist, but it was not in Bulma's benefit for the stubborn Saiyan to collapse on their way back to Ring One. He had been muttering furiously to himself, and she only caught snippets and was honestly a bit worried about his sanity, if she was being completely honest. The guy was talking to himself while bleeding all over the place for crying out loud.

"…think they can kill me… on purpose…planned…"

The little bits she had caught hadn't given her much insight to what was going on in his mind, and she didn't really care to find out. It seemed to be a swirling vortex of craziness and violence and she didn't want to plunge face-first into that, thank you very much. Bulma was fully ready to return to her quaint little life back in Ring Two, void of plotting Saiyans and assassins and death and violence and blood. She'd settle down, marry a nice man - or maybe not, because _fuck_ if men in Ring Two were like the men in Ring One that was a path she was happy to veer around.

But boys were so nice to play with...

Focus, Bulma. Saiyans. War. Frieza. Getting home alive. Important stuff.

But _fuck_, something was seriously wrong here. She couldn't deny that Vegeta's rumblings made slight sense. It'd all gone so perfectly wrong. And as much as Bulma hated to admit it, she was going to stick this thing through to the end. She was going to see who came out on top, and that would decide where she would end up at the end of this thing.

If Vegeta died now, she'd be royally screwed. If she managed to miraculously live through the forest and survive the monsters but returned with the lack of a Prince, Azuki would either kill her or congratulate her - either was entirely possible. Subconsciously tilting her head to the side, Bulma wondered which was more likely to happen. But back to the subject at hand: she couldn't let Vegeta die. His death more than likely meant her death.

Their fates were entwined, in a way.

How romantic - _not_.

And then she was back the beginning - damned stupid Saiyan.

Bulma reached forward and wrapped her petite hand around Vegeta's bicep, tugging gently and forcing him to acknowledge her. He did a sudden 180 so forcefully that she let go and reeled back, coming face-to-face with his crazed eyes and furious expression. "Whoa. Settle down, cowboy." He seemed to have forgotten that someone was following him, but upon remembering her he calmed slightly, shoulders lowering and face relaxing. Bulma breathed a sigh of relief. And, much to her shock and relief, Vegeta begrudgingly sat down on a nearby rock, holding out his leg to her like a peace offering.

Hm. Maybe there was some brain underneath all the brawn after all.

Hell if she let this moment pass her up. Bulma hurried to strip moss from a nearby tree trunk and returned to awkwardly pat it on his blood-drenched leg. She'd skipped out on most of the medical classes that had been offered to her (when would life in _Ring Two_ ever require her to stitch up a wound?), but Bulma had common sense and knew that the moss would soak up most of the excess blood. She hissed when the wound was uncovered and muttered more to herself than to Vegeta, "This needs stitches."

"Well, if an uncivilized rat such as yourself knows how to make stitches from sticks and leaves, be my guest," snapped Vegeta. Bulma gave him a look, but he glared right back at her.

"The brutal hostility is unneeded," Bulma said calmly. Vegeta sneered up at her. "Alright, Mr. Asshole. Bleed to death, see if I care." She threw the blood-stained moss onto the ground and crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. Stupid Saiyan and his stupid stubbornness. Her hands were red and the coppery smell was invading her nose, but she concentrated on breathing through her mouth and keeping up her annoyed appearance. Couldn't have Vegeta knowing that she was on the verge of throwing up, after all. Calmly, Vegeta reached down and picked up the moss, patting it against his own leg.

Sighing inwardly, Bulma turned to gaze into the darker depths of the forest. If Vegeta passed out from blood loss she was fucked. They learned about all of the beasts in the forest in school, partly as a means of education and partly to scare the braver of the children away from venturing into the dangerous forest. And, unfortunately, Bulma was not unnaturally muscular and/or possessed a weapon. They needed to get moving now and get as far as possible before the blood loss would set in.

"Is there a city nearby?" Bulma asked, turning to watch Vegeta tend to his own wound. "Where you can get healed up?"

"I do not require, nor will I accept any help from lowlife backwards _foreigners_."

Bulma blinked at him. Yep, she was fucked.

Damned stupid Saiyan.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the minimal Bulma/Vegeta interaction. This chapter was supposed to be longer but I figured I should probably post something to show you all I'm not abandoning this story. I have way too much fun stuff planned to do that! Haha, hope you liked it!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It wasn't _cheating_. In order for it to be cheating, one had to be in an actual relationship. And her and Radditz were, by no means, in a functional relationship. So they had sex every now and then? They were in no way bonded or mates, so Azuki was free to go off and do whatever with whoever the hell she wanted. She liked variety. Radditz was the one who seemed adverse to having multiple sex buddies, and that was his loss.

She'd kick his ass if he went back on that, but that was another matter entirely.

So she'd fucked Jude? So she'd fucked the one man that Radditz truly couldn't stand?

Azuki could have fun if she wanted to. If she wanted to taste something other than Radditz's predictable mintiness, then fine. There was _nothing wrong with it_. Her and Radditz would never be mates - not that she wanted to be. It was forbidden. Her and Jude would never be mates - again, not that she had any inclination to ever mate with a man. Being the last female Saiyan should have left quite a weighty responsibility on her shoulders, but the only Saiyan ranked highly enough that it wouldn't be atrocious for her to fuck by Saiyan laws was Nappa. And hell if that ever happened - she'd rather cut off her own tail and swear to be abstinent for the remainder of her life. Besides, the old man probably didn't even have sperm left, or something.

So, the weight of reproducing was lifted from her shoulders - and Azuki ran away with it.

She doesn't even remember how her and Radditz decided to risk death and ruin. How flirtations had escalated into something entirely too dangerous. And why did they keep doing it? The only punishment Azuki faced was public humiliation and slap to the wrist, but Radditz faced death every time they disappeared to the woods to be together, and Azuki was unable to wrap her head around _why_. Although Radditz occasionally got obnoxiously mushy, Azuki never returned the sentiment, even if sometimes she _did_ feel the contentment that Radditz described when together. Her pride just couldn't take it. And, truly, she had no plans to mate with the Saiyan, so why get unnecessarily emotionally attached?

On the other hand, why had Jude just risked it?

The assassin was known to put his own life above near anything. So what was his purpose? For a fun little experience? A chance to say that he'd done it? But no, he couldn't even do that. His intentions could not be as pure as Radditz's. He held no true affection for her, nor her for him.

Right?

Jude did provide something that Radditz did not: a challenge. Although Radditz was by no means stupid (gods knew she wouldn't even poke him with a stick if he were), he was unable to provide the verbal sparring that Jude did. And she did enjoy sparring, physical or not.

On the plus side, she now had a nice little threat to hold over Jude's head.

* * *

><p>"I spy with my little eye, something green."<p>

The only evidence that Vegeta heard her was the slight lift of one eyebrow.

"It's an old Earth game, I think," continued Bulma. "You have to figure out what I'm talking about."

Vegeta's eyes flickered over the forest that stretched on for miles around them.

"C'mon, Vegeta. Something green."

"Gee, maybe the leaves?" snarled the Saiyan, pure sarcasm and contempt in his tone.

"Wow, good job! Your turn."

Silence.

"Ok, I'll go again. I spy with my little eye - "

"If you don't shut the fuck up I will rip out your tongue."

"...an asshole."

Vegeta didn't respond to her barb, and she crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. Her eyes shifted to the wounded warrior's leg, and, unbidden, she wondered how much longer that the leg could possibly hold him up. He was much stronger than the average person, yes, but the blood was oozing out and his limp was growing more and more severe as time went on. What would she do if he passed out from blood loss? She certainly couldn't lug his body around; he'd be too heavy. The wolves would come, too, once they sensed that the threat was gone.

He had to sleep some time. A good fire could keep the beasts at bay, and maybe she could run ahead and try and find help. The other civilizations that had no affiliation with the Rings were still under Vegeta's reign, and they'd have to be obligated to help, right? Frieza's men only stayed in Frieza's palace, so there was little chance of accidentally asking enemies for help.

Bulma eyed Vegeta. Unfortunately, the stubborn Prince showed no signs of slowing to rest, and night had long since fallen. He held a shining ball of ki out in front of him to light their path. Saiyans must have some odd inner sense of direction, because Bulma had lost track of which direction they were going hours ago.

"Why'd you come back for me?"

It was a simple question. She had every right to be curious. Why _had_ Vegeta come back to get her after the battle? Jude was supposed to, but he had been injured and Azuki had transported him off the field. And then Nappa had been knocked unconscious, and Radditz had taken care of him. Kakarrot and Gohan had been the only two to actually leave with who the Prince had told them to. And that left Vegeta. He had _had_ to come back for her if she was to survive, but why did he want her alive?

"You are to build the ki detector on a larger scale when we return to Ring One. A device that will stay in the Ring and give an alert if enemies are approaching."

"Oh."

Well, at least she was good for something in his eyes.

"What, you thought I actually _cared_ for your safety?" sneered the Prince, and Bulma could just picture the arrogant smirk on his face.

"Ha, good one," Bulma shot back, not letting his barb get to her. "The only thing you care about is your damned biceps."

If her words affected him, he was hiding it pretty well. Then again, she could only see his back, so whatever expression that crossed his face was not for her eyes to see. Bulma sighed, figuring now was as good a time as any to try again. "Vegeta, we should really find someone to help -"

"No."

"Why not?" cried the blue haired scientist, throwing her arms up in the air in pure frustration. "You're going to pass out from blood loss and the wolves or whatever else lives in this forest are going to eat us alive."

"I will not pass out."

"You will."

"No," he growled, clearly losing patience. "I _won't_." He turned around and snarled at her, baring his teeth in what must have been an effort to intimidate her. Bulma's fear for the Saiyan had long since diminished, however, and she just stuck her tongue out at him. Vegeta paused, blinking down at her, before growling and mumbling something to himself that involved 'infuriating woman'.

"Can we at least eat?" asked Bulma, an idea forming quickly in her head. "You can make the fire and I'll make a nice little soup or something." Honestly, she had no cooking skills whatsoever, but he didn't need to know that. Bulma wasn't about to die in this forest. Vegeta might kill her afterwards, but that was much better than dying now, anyways. And he wouldn't be able to defy her logic when he awoke to a newly healed leg. And hey, maybe his pride would be wounded a bit, but there was really no harm. She was trying to save him, after all. That had to count for something!

Much to her relief, Vegeta conceded. He gathered some wood and used his ki to ignite a fire, and plopped down on a log, waiting patiently for her to gather her ingredients for her 'soup'. Bulma scurried around the forest floor, making sure to keep close to the dull glow of the fire so that she wouldn't be dragged off kicking and screaming by something she preferred to not picture. Somehow, she figured the Saiyan wouldn't feel the effort of saving her was really worth getting up.

They were, quite unfortunately, lacking a pot, so soup was out of the question. Instead, Bulma used a flat rock to mash up some plants and berries she'd found together on a slab of stone. Vegeta had leaned up against the fallen log, head back, eyes closed. If he were asleep Bulma's job would be quite a bit easier, but she knew he wasn't.

When she was finished, she had a nice mushy lump of berries and plants. It wasn't the prettiest bit of food in the world, but it'd do. She scooped up a large amount of it on the rock she'd used to crush it and offered it to Vegeta, who took it without even opening his eyes. And for a second, Bulma marveled at the absolute trust he was displaying in her when he put the substance in his mouth and swallowed without a second thought.

"Can we move on, now?" Vegeta grumbled after he finished, but his eyes didn't open. His voice was groggy and unsteady, and she wondered if he knew what was happening. He showed no sign of violence or alarm.

"C'mon, Vegeta. Let's just rest for a little while," purred Bulma, sitting behind him so that she could soothingly rub at the tense muscles in his shoulders. He growled warningly, but the energy to reach up and swat at her was long since gone. "I'll wake you up in an hour. I promise."

Vegeta's eyelids fluttered, and seconds later his chest was rising and falling peacefully, his breathing deep and slightly labored.

"You'll thank me later," mumbled Bulma, staring down at the now-unconscious Saiyan leaned up against the log. He looked rather peaceful, his face finally slack and relaxed. She was by no means a biologist, but Bulma knew what plants in the forest caused unconsciousness from years of school and study. Guilt twinged in her stomach, but she ignored it for the most part. This was necessary. Vegeta refused to get help himself, even when it meant survival, so she would do it herself. The fire would keep monsters away while she left to search for the nearest town using her ki detector. "I'll be right back," Bulma promised.

* * *

><p>"<em>This is no way to treat your guests<em>!" screamed Bulma as the burlap sack was shoved roughly over her face, casting her into darkness. Hands grabbed her arms and heaved her up onto her feet and shoved her forward. Bulma continued screaming, mindless of the fact that the sack was muffling her words and that her captors couldn't hear her threats and promises of pain.

So perhaps finding the nearest city hadn't been her best bet. Maybe Vegeta had known what he was talking about when he said he wasn't going to pass out...oops.

She'd been headed towards the mass of ki's on her ki detector when the bag had been shoved down over her head out of nowhere. She hadn't even gotten a good look at whoever had captured her. For all she knew, they could be Frieza's men. The thought made Bulma's stomach squirm. How would she get help to Vegeta now?

They'd been shoving her along for an indefinite amount of time, and finally she was pulled down into a chair and told to sit still.

"Is she a spy of Frieza's?" asked a deep, gruff voice, somewhere off to her left.

Bulma let out a breath she hadn't been sure she'd been holding. At least she knew that these people weren't on Frieza's side. She'd be safe.

"Not sure. Found her roaming through the forest."

A sigh. Then, a much higher and squeakier voice said, "C'mon, Tien. I doubt she's one of Frieza's spies."

"You can never be too sure, Chiaotzu," The man called Tien responded. "I've heard Frieza's spies can be found anywhere, even in the Rings."

Bulma scowled. If they'd just remove the damned sack from her face, she could assure all of them that she was by no means one of Frieza's spies. The thought was absolutely ridiculous. And to think, she'd once had a plan to settle down in Ring Two and ignore the war for as long as she possibly could. Ha. Now _that_ was a good one.

And then the bag was ripped from her face and Bulma was looking up at a three-eyed man.

The instinct to scream and reel back had to be beaten down, but something must've shown on her face, for the man scowled. "You aren't a spy," he grumbled to himself, and she recognized the voice of the man called Tien.

She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or insulted that this man could tell from a single look that she was no spy. Bulma sat in a chair in front of a desk in a tiny box of a room, metal walls all around them. Tien stood on the other side of the desk, watching her. Another man guarded the outline of the door that led to freedom. "Of course not!" Bulma spluttered.

The three-eyed man tugged on the shoulder of his green gi uncomfortably. He glanced down at his feet and Bulma followed his gaze, laying eyes on a tiny, white-skinned creature with rosy red cheeks. Bulma gawked. The man - boy? - tugged down his black cap over his eyes and squeaked, "I told you, Tien."

"Look," Bulma began desperately, her initial mission coming back to her and hitting her full force, "Prince Vegeta is out there in the woods. Dying. Please, you've gotta help him."

Tien barked a laugh that made Bulma's skin crawl. It wasn't a forgiving sound. "_Prince_ Vegeta? So you're with him." It was strangely accusing. He nodded to the nondescript man that was standing off to the left. "Tie her arms."

"_What_?" screeched Bulma, leaping to her feet. However, the man was much stronger and had already pulled her arms behind her back, forcing her back down into the chair and tying her to it. "He's your Prince, too! Your King!" Bulma struggled valiantly, seething and spitting. Chiaotzu shuffled backwards awkwardly, pulling his sleeves over his hands and watching her apologetically.

"My King." Tien laughed again, that same horrible, unhumorous laugh. "My King that leaves us here to fend for ourselves against Frieza's armies and offers us nothing except when he wants us to go to war. I owe Prince Vegeta _nothing._"

"Tien," squeaked the little man, but he was cut off harshly.

"Not now, Chiaotzu."

"But Tien- "

"_Not now_!"

_Don't worry, I'll talk to him._

The voice resonated inside her head and Bulma gawked open-mouthed at the little white-faced man who had just spoken inside her mind. He paid her no heed as he chased after Tien, who had made a dramatic exit and slammed the door shut behind him. Had she just imagined that voice, or had he really just telepathically communicated with her?

Bulma blinked a few times, trying to register what had just happened as she was left in the silence that followed the exit of the men.

What the _fuck._

* * *

><p>It took Vegeta's eyes a few moments to adjust to the light streaming down through the trees and landing on the forest floor. He groggily lifted an arm and wiped his gloved hands at his eyes, trying to rub the sleepiness out. How was it daylight? What had happened? Rage seared inside him. He had had every intention of not stopping at all until they returned to Ring One. He couldn't let Azuki beat him there, or she'd have control and there was no telling what she would do with it. The last thing he remembered was settling down and eating the slightly disgusting concoction that Bulma had whipped up. He'd been quite polite, too, and hadn't even commented on how bitter and tasteless it had been -<p>

Wait, Bulma. Where was that blasted woman? Had she run off? Vegeta's eyes swept around him, taking in the dying embers and the empty campsite. He lifted his nose in the air and caught a whiff of her scent, headed off in the north. In the direction of Epac Town. He hated that fucking town. Always asking him to send food and troops and supplies. Could no one take care of themselves but _him_?

So she'd headed off to find help while he had fallen asleep. Although his insides raged, at his very core Vegeta couldn't help but admire her stubbornness.

Vegeta's tongue felt oddly heavy. He glanced down at the smooth rock that had once held his dinner. Fingers trembling, Vegeta brought it up to his nose and sniffed.

That..._bitch_.

Cursing and spitting mad, Vegeta heaved himself up to his feet. He wobbled for a fraction of a second, then took off in a mad limp towards the north. When he got his hands on her, he was going to wring that woman's neck.


End file.
